Experience Kissimmee Says ‘Thanks’ To Canadian Partners

Experience Kissimmee, and its partners Disney and Universal, welcomed a group of travel trade VIPs to Toronto’s Soho Hotel for an evening of appreciation.

Held in a three-storey suite at the property, guests were encouraged to wear white – and they all did — to the relaxed evening of food, fun and networking.

During the Summer White Party, DT Minich, president and CEO of Experience Kissimmee, told Press Today (PT) that the evening was a way for the destination to say ‘thanks’ for all of the support that its Canadian partners have given to it.

Minich told PT that there is lots going on in Kissimmee these days with the addition of new hotels and new vacation homes – noting that Kissimmee is the “Vacation Home Capital of the World,” with over 30,000 vacations homes available for booking right now and an additional 5,000 or more currently permitted or starting construction.

In talking about vacation homes, Minich took a moment to clear up some misconceptions, explaining that these properties have been purpose-built to be vacation homes and are professionally managed and have all sorts of support in place and a surprising number of amenities and features available to guests.

Even better news, travel advisors can book these properties and earn commission, so it’s all good.

Big news for Kissimmee is that the Brightline high-speed train will start service to Kissimmee (the station will be at Orlando International Airport) in September, will the destination becoming the fifth station on the line that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and The Palm Beaches, and which will offer 11 services daily.

Off the top, Canadian tour operators will be able to include Brightline tickets in their package offerings, but for Experience Kissimmee, Minich told PT that the destination will be taking a two-pronged approach to promoting the rail service. First it provides Canadian visitors (and visitors from other markets) with the opportunity to enjoy a two-centre holiday and secondly, Experience Kissimmee will also be promoting day trips for golf and other activities to or from the destination.

All in all, the Brightline high-speed train offers Kissimmee one more unique selling point to woo Canadian visitors.

Speaking of which, Minich made it clear that the Canadian market is continuing to post a strong performance for Kissimmee and Experience Kissimmee’s president and CEO expects that to continue during the 2023-2024 winter season.

In Canada, Experience Kissimmee is represented by VoX International.

For more, go to www.experiencekissimmee.com .