Orlando, Florida, has long been known for its high-profile theme parks, most notably Walt Disney World Resort, that drive significant leisure tourism to the metropolitan area.
Over the years, though, the city has made a name for itself as a business travel hub as well, attracting meetings- and conference-goers in addition to families and international visitors.
With nature and outdoor activities, a dynamic dining scene and a robust calendar of entertainment and sports events, Orlando is a “diverse, welcoming and inclusive community for all travelers,” Casandra Matej, president and CEO of tourism association Visit Orlando, told Hotel Dive.
The city’s solid travel demand — which has not yet been negatively impacted by this year’s economic volatility — has made Orlando a desirable destination for hotel industry players to transact and expand. Local hospitality pros shared with Hotel Dive what makes the market truly unique, keeping travelers coming back and hotels bullish on its future viability.
Tourists keep coming
In 2024, Orlando welcomed 75.3 million visitors, a 1.8% year-over-year increase, according to Visit Orlando.
Domestic visitation increased by 1.4% year over year, driven in part by a rise in day visits and overnight non-hotel stays, according to the association. International visitation, meanwhile, grew more quickly at 5.9% year over year in 2024.
During 2024, Canada brought more visitors to Orlando than any other international market. A record 1.29 million Canadian tourists visited the city last year, representing a 2.7% increase over 2023. The U.K., Brazil, Mexico and Colombia followed to round out the top-five international markets to visit Orlando.
International travel to the U.S. has been challenged in recent months amid mounting economic uncertainty, with mountain resort destinations across the Western U.S. seeing visitation numbers dip this spring and hotel CEOs noting booking shifts during first-quarter 2025 earnings. Last month, the World Travel & Tourism Council projected that the U.S. is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025.
Las Vegas resort operators Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International specifically reported seeing fewer Canadian leisure travelers during Q1.
However, as of May, Orlando had not yet seen a drop in international arrivals, with levels on par with 2019, JLL shared with Hotel Dive. This is better than the U.S. as a whole, which is currently seeing international arrivals at 89% of 2019 levels, per JLL.
Historically, approximately 10% of Orlando’s annual tourism comes from international travel, according to JLL. In 2024, Orlando’s visitor mix comprised 9% international visitation, 81% domestic leisure and 10% domestic business, per Visit Orlando. The market’s group meetings segment posted year-over-year growth of 3.9% in 2024, per the association.
Through the first five months of this year, travel demand has remained strong, driving solid hotel performance, Visit Orlando’s Matej told Hotel Dive.
Hotel occupancy, demand and ADR all surpassed prior-year levels as of May, and “the next few months look positive for hotels with leisure bookings currently pacing 2% ahead of last year for June through August,” Matej said.
Orlando seems to be pacing better than other U.S. markets. Onstage at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum earlier this month, STR President Amanda Hite shared that nationwide bookings for July and August are down from last year.
Orlando’s hotel occupancy was up 0.5 percentage points in May, “underpinned by strong group demand,” according to JLL. RevPAR, meanwhile, was up 4% year over year to $161 in May, JLL shared with Hotel Dive, citing STR data.
Conventions and entertainment drive visitation
Group travelers are flocking to Orlando for corporate events and conventions.
In May, Cvent named Orlando the top meetings destination in North America out of 50 markets. Orlando has held the top spot in Cvent’s ranking for 10 years.
Orlando remains a premier choice for events and group business, particularly with the Orange County Convention Center’s recent expansion and ongoing hotel renovations across the market, according to Matej.
Orlando sees a significant amount of “big group business” because of its convention center offerings as well as “having one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world,” JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group Americas President Dan Peek told Hotel Dive.
Entertainment, including area theme parks and sporting events, is another significant driver of visitation to Orlando, attracting the market’s largest traveler segment: leisure guests, Peek noted.
“People are allocating more of their dollars to experience. The most valuable thing we all have is time. The parents and the grandparents are willing to sponsor the vacation because they can get time with their kids and grandkids, or whatever their family makeup happens to be. That’s not going away.”
Dan Peek
JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group Americas President
Universal Orlando Resorts’ newest theme park, the 750-acre Epic Universe, opened last month and is slated to be “a game changer” for the market, Peek said. He added that Epic Universe is “substantially larger than all of the Universal parks today, and is very modern and high-tech.”
The theme park includes several hotels, including Loews Hotels-branded properties like the 500-key Universal Helios Grand Hotel and sister properties Terra Luna and Stella Nova.
Orlando’s theme parks attract multigenerational travelers, specifically, Peek said. This is happening as older generations, who now control a larger portion of U.S. wealth, take their families to destinations like Orlando where each age group has something to enjoy.
Additionally, the influx of multigenerational travel to Orlando has come from a “shift from consumption to experience,” Peek said.
“People are allocating more of their dollars to experience,” he said. “The most valuable thing we all have is time. The parents and the grandparents are willing to sponsor the vacation because they can get time with their kids and grandkids, or whatever their family makeup happens to be. That’s not going away.”
A robust calendar of entertainment and sporting events, including the FIFA Club World Cup, is also driving tourists to the market, Matej said.
Hospitality pros told Hotel Dive earlier this year that sports tourism and multigenerational travel are trends to watch in 2025.
Development reflects travelers’ needs
Hotel projects in Orlando reflect evolving traveler needs, according to Matej.
“New developments like Evermore Orlando Resort and the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve offer a range of accommodations — from budget-friendly to upscale — designed for multigenerational families, groups and longer stays,” she said. “These additions align with broader trends of visitors seeking more space, flexibility and shared experiences.”
The 1,100-acre Evermore Orlando Resort opened last year, offering vacation rental-style houses designed for families, 12 food and beverage outlets, a 36-hole golf course and a beach-lined lagoon spanning more than six football fields in size. The resort also has a 433-room luxury Hilton hotel.
A family-oriented hotel and residences property, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Orlando, is also set to open in 2026.
IHG Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, is expanding two of its luxury and lifestyle brands in the market. The 261-room Kimpton Orlando, which will have more than 16,000 square feet of indoor meetings and event space, is slated to open in 2027. In 2028, the 700-key InterContinental Orlando will debut with a spa and other wellness amenities, IHG Chief Development Officer for the Americas Julienne Smith shared with Hotel Dive.
“The Orlando market offers immense growth potential, and we’re open to exploring how we can expand our reach and introduce new brands and properties to the market,” Smith said, adding that the high influx of travelers coming to the city presents significant opportunities.
Beyond the Kimpton and InterContinental hotels, IHG has several Orlando properties on the horizon, including an Even Hotels-brand property set to open soon near Orlando International Airport, Smith shared. IHG also plans to open a dual-branded Even Hotels and Staybridge Suites project adjacent to Epic Universe in 2026, featuring nearly 300 combined guest rooms.
In 2024, a total of 11 new hotels, comprising 1,913 rooms, opened in Orlando, according to Lodging Econometrics data obtained by Hotel Dive. The market’s total hotel construction pipeline as of the first quarter of this year stood at 104 projects, or 21,110 rooms, per Lodging Econometrics.
Investors wait in the wings
Last summer, the Hyatt Regency Orlando sold for $1 billion, the largest hotel transaction of 2024. Now, many investors are waiting in the wings to see how Orlando’s hospitality market performs this summer before they transact, Peek said.
Hotel deal volume in Orlando, as well as across the country, has been somewhat muted so far this year, he noted.
“There’s pent-up transaction activity in every market in the country,” Peek said, adding that there are hotel sellers in Orlando who “are hopeful that Epic Universe will add another gear to demand that they can benefit from.”
Hotel occupancy for the overall Orlando market, though, was down 7.4% year over year on May 22, the opening day of Epic Universe, Bloomberg reported. Occupancy remained down over the following five days through Memorial Day, May 26, according to the report.
