Walt Disney World is the undisputed king of Central Florida's travel destination empire, but the dukes and earls have been elbowing their way to larger fiefs.
Disney is still the brand that brings in families from around the world, but its share of theme-park attendance has declined to 68 percent in 2002 from 75 percent in 1998, according to a Sentinel analysis of attendance estimates by the trade publication Amusement Business.
Universal Orlando's share of Orlando-area theme park attendance has grown to 23 percent from 16 percent. And SeaWorld's has grown slightly, to 9 percent. But it isn't just parks that are diluting Disney's influence.
Over the past several years, Central Florida has gotten championship golf courses and upscale shopping malls, self-contained time-share resorts and luxury hotels -- businesses that depend on Disney for customers but also attract tourists on their own.
And that can only help Central Florida's No. 1 industry, said Bill Peeper, president of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"The more offerings we have as a destination, the stronger we are as a destination," he said. "I don't think it's unhealthy at all."
Bill Warren, a Disney spokesman, points out that the Amusement Business figures used by the Sentinel to calculate market share are estimates. As in the past, Warren declined to provide gate numbers. But Disney hasn't previously objected to media use of the Amusement Business data.
"We fundamentally disagree with your premise that we have lost market share to any single competitor," Warren said. "What is more important to the future of our business is whether our product remains relevant to our guests, which we work hard to assure , and whether we are profitable for our shareholders."
But some former Disney executives say privately that while the Amusement Business numbers aren't exact, the declining market-share trend is portrayed accurately.
Outside experts agree.
"I have a sense that guests to Central Florida are now redefining their Florida vacations," said Tim O'Brien, senior editor of Amusement Business. "I think what we'll start seeing more and more is a cyclical fluctuation in attendance patterns. One year, guests will come and do only a Disney vacation, the next year they will come and do everything but Disney."
In the long run, that can only help the area, some say.
"What's happening is that Orlando is getting a whole new layer of infrastructure that will give people more alternatives and choices that a major destination needs to have," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based attraction consulting firm.
Mark Vitner, an economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, said, "This is a form of diversification in the Orlando market and that's a good thing."
True, it isn't the traditional vertical economic variety yearned for by government leaders here in recent years. The area still isn't drawing droves of high-tech or manufacturing employers or corporate headquarters.
But the horizontal diversification across the tourism industry is bringing in amenities and activities new to this area, which will draw more visitors, experts say. For example, the soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton resort on John Young Parkway near International Drive will offer courses in falconry -- learning to train and hunt with birds of prey.
The Ritz, along with the J.W. Marriott, will open at Grande Lakes Orlando this summer.
Disney's declining influence is a natural progression in the growth of Orlando's tourism industry, said Abraham Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management.
"It's a sign of a more mature market," he said. "You don't want to depend on one organization."
Universal's and SeaWorld's expansions give tourists more reasons to return to Orlando, and it makes Orlando a more competitive market, Pizam said.
"That keeps you on your toes," he said.
Universal, for example, has expanded in four years from a single attraction to a sprawling resort with two parks, three luxury hotels and an entertainment district with a 20-screen movie theater, nightclubs and an eatery operated by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.
"Thirty-five percent of our business in our three hotels are only doing Universal," said Michael Sansbury, regional vice president and managing director of Loews Hotels, which has opened three properties at Universal Orlando since 1999 and is considering a fourth.
SeaWorld, meanwhile, has broadened its appeal by adding animal encounters such as "Sharks Deep Dive" and by opening a second park, Discovery Cove, a high-end day resort where guests are allowed in the water with dolphins.
"We have something that is unique," said Jim Atchison, vice president for marketing at SeaWorld, which hopes to attract more visitors this summer with a waterfront shopping and dining complex.
"What we like to see is a variety of things to do in this market," he said. "It helps the destination."
Disney has added one theme park, Animal Kingdom, during this period and weighed into the cruise business with two huge ships sailing to the Caribbean out of Port Canaveral.
Yet even in the cruise business Disney faces increasing competition at its home port. In 1999, Disney's two ships represented 50 percent of those sailing from Canaveral as a home port. By 2002 however, the port boasted six Caribbean cruisers, reducing Disney to one-third of the fleet. By the end of 2003, another two non-Disney ships will call Canaveral home, cutting Disney's share to 25 percent.
Further diluting Disney's influence, some are skipping the attractions altogether, preferring to golf, visit Brevard County's beaches or shop at malls anchored by upscale department stores such as Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, said Ed Kinney, senior director of brand public relations for Orlando-based Marriott Vacation Club International, with six-time share properties in Central Florida.
"Those are attractions by themselves," Kinney said. Those activities can draw people away from Disney's property and closer to Universal and SeaWorld.
Disney World is still popular with Marriott's time-share owners, said Kinney, but their interest is growing in Universal's parks as well as Busch Entertainment's SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.
"People are seeing much more additions at those two [Universal and SeaWorld] than they're seeing at Disney," Kinney said.
Disney hasn't opened a major new ride since 1999's debut of the Rock 'n Roller Coaster at MGM Studios and the only one scheduled for 2003 will be a space-flight simulator called Mission: Space at Epcot.
Universal this year is adding attractions based on the popular -- and hip -- Shrek and Jimmy Neutron, and insiders say an indoor roller coaster based on The Mummy will replace Kongfrontation at Universal Studios.
Another reason for attendance growth at Universal and SeaWorld is the generous discounts they're offering. For example, SeaWorld's "Fun Card," for the price of a one-day admission, is also a one-year pass for additional visits.
Disney historically has refused to offer deep discounts.
"During this recovery period Disney World has maintained its strong No. 1 market position without devaluing the brand to attract attendance through deep discounts and sacrificing future ticket sales," Disney spokesman Warren said.
But others point out that special deals are making non-Disney parks much more accessible to local residents, something Disney has tried less successfully to do with less generous offers. Annual passes without restrictions at Walt Disney World cost about $400, more than twice the rate at Universal and eight times the price at SeaWorld.
At the same time, the little guys are no longer willing to wait to follow Disney's lead with daily admission price hikes. For the past couple of years, SeaWorld has been first to raise prices, followed by Universal and then Disney.
Universal, meanwhile, likes to say it has a better grip on the lucrative pre-teen and teen market than does Disney.
"If you ask any child who's, say, at least 8 years old: 'Would you rather ride on Spider-Man or It's a Small World?,' it's no contest," said Gretchen Hofmann, Universal Orlando's senior vice president of marketing.
Universal officials are quick to acknowledge that Disney is still No. 1 in this market. "But Disney is no longer the catalyst of all growth for Orlando," Hoffman said. "And we are no longer at the mercy of Disney."
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-cfbcover20012003jan20.story
Disney is still the brand that brings in families from around the world, but its share of theme-park attendance has declined to 68 percent in 2002 from 75 percent in 1998, according to a Sentinel analysis of attendance estimates by the trade publication Amusement Business.
Universal Orlando's share of Orlando-area theme park attendance has grown to 23 percent from 16 percent. And SeaWorld's has grown slightly, to 9 percent. But it isn't just parks that are diluting Disney's influence.
Over the past several years, Central Florida has gotten championship golf courses and upscale shopping malls, self-contained time-share resorts and luxury hotels -- businesses that depend on Disney for customers but also attract tourists on their own.
And that can only help Central Florida's No. 1 industry, said Bill Peeper, president of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"The more offerings we have as a destination, the stronger we are as a destination," he said. "I don't think it's unhealthy at all."
Bill Warren, a Disney spokesman, points out that the Amusement Business figures used by the Sentinel to calculate market share are estimates. As in the past, Warren declined to provide gate numbers. But Disney hasn't previously objected to media use of the Amusement Business data.
"We fundamentally disagree with your premise that we have lost market share to any single competitor," Warren said. "What is more important to the future of our business is whether our product remains relevant to our guests, which we work hard to assure , and whether we are profitable for our shareholders."
But some former Disney executives say privately that while the Amusement Business numbers aren't exact, the declining market-share trend is portrayed accurately.
Outside experts agree.
"I have a sense that guests to Central Florida are now redefining their Florida vacations," said Tim O'Brien, senior editor of Amusement Business. "I think what we'll start seeing more and more is a cyclical fluctuation in attendance patterns. One year, guests will come and do only a Disney vacation, the next year they will come and do everything but Disney."
In the long run, that can only help the area, some say.
"What's happening is that Orlando is getting a whole new layer of infrastructure that will give people more alternatives and choices that a major destination needs to have," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati-based attraction consulting firm.
Mark Vitner, an economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, said, "This is a form of diversification in the Orlando market and that's a good thing."
True, it isn't the traditional vertical economic variety yearned for by government leaders here in recent years. The area still isn't drawing droves of high-tech or manufacturing employers or corporate headquarters.
But the horizontal diversification across the tourism industry is bringing in amenities and activities new to this area, which will draw more visitors, experts say. For example, the soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton resort on John Young Parkway near International Drive will offer courses in falconry -- learning to train and hunt with birds of prey.
The Ritz, along with the J.W. Marriott, will open at Grande Lakes Orlando this summer.
Disney's declining influence is a natural progression in the growth of Orlando's tourism industry, said Abraham Pizam, dean of the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management.
"It's a sign of a more mature market," he said. "You don't want to depend on one organization."
Universal's and SeaWorld's expansions give tourists more reasons to return to Orlando, and it makes Orlando a more competitive market, Pizam said.
"That keeps you on your toes," he said.
Universal, for example, has expanded in four years from a single attraction to a sprawling resort with two parks, three luxury hotels and an entertainment district with a 20-screen movie theater, nightclubs and an eatery operated by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.
"Thirty-five percent of our business in our three hotels are only doing Universal," said Michael Sansbury, regional vice president and managing director of Loews Hotels, which has opened three properties at Universal Orlando since 1999 and is considering a fourth.
SeaWorld, meanwhile, has broadened its appeal by adding animal encounters such as "Sharks Deep Dive" and by opening a second park, Discovery Cove, a high-end day resort where guests are allowed in the water with dolphins.
"We have something that is unique," said Jim Atchison, vice president for marketing at SeaWorld, which hopes to attract more visitors this summer with a waterfront shopping and dining complex.
"What we like to see is a variety of things to do in this market," he said. "It helps the destination."
Disney has added one theme park, Animal Kingdom, during this period and weighed into the cruise business with two huge ships sailing to the Caribbean out of Port Canaveral.
Yet even in the cruise business Disney faces increasing competition at its home port. In 1999, Disney's two ships represented 50 percent of those sailing from Canaveral as a home port. By 2002 however, the port boasted six Caribbean cruisers, reducing Disney to one-third of the fleet. By the end of 2003, another two non-Disney ships will call Canaveral home, cutting Disney's share to 25 percent.
Further diluting Disney's influence, some are skipping the attractions altogether, preferring to golf, visit Brevard County's beaches or shop at malls anchored by upscale department stores such as Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, said Ed Kinney, senior director of brand public relations for Orlando-based Marriott Vacation Club International, with six-time share properties in Central Florida.
"Those are attractions by themselves," Kinney said. Those activities can draw people away from Disney's property and closer to Universal and SeaWorld.
Disney World is still popular with Marriott's time-share owners, said Kinney, but their interest is growing in Universal's parks as well as Busch Entertainment's SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.
"People are seeing much more additions at those two [Universal and SeaWorld] than they're seeing at Disney," Kinney said.
Disney hasn't opened a major new ride since 1999's debut of the Rock 'n Roller Coaster at MGM Studios and the only one scheduled for 2003 will be a space-flight simulator called Mission: Space at Epcot.
Universal this year is adding attractions based on the popular -- and hip -- Shrek and Jimmy Neutron, and insiders say an indoor roller coaster based on The Mummy will replace Kongfrontation at Universal Studios.
Another reason for attendance growth at Universal and SeaWorld is the generous discounts they're offering. For example, SeaWorld's "Fun Card," for the price of a one-day admission, is also a one-year pass for additional visits.
Disney historically has refused to offer deep discounts.
"During this recovery period Disney World has maintained its strong No. 1 market position without devaluing the brand to attract attendance through deep discounts and sacrificing future ticket sales," Disney spokesman Warren said.
But others point out that special deals are making non-Disney parks much more accessible to local residents, something Disney has tried less successfully to do with less generous offers. Annual passes without restrictions at Walt Disney World cost about $400, more than twice the rate at Universal and eight times the price at SeaWorld.
At the same time, the little guys are no longer willing to wait to follow Disney's lead with daily admission price hikes. For the past couple of years, SeaWorld has been first to raise prices, followed by Universal and then Disney.
Universal, meanwhile, likes to say it has a better grip on the lucrative pre-teen and teen market than does Disney.
"If you ask any child who's, say, at least 8 years old: 'Would you rather ride on Spider-Man or It's a Small World?,' it's no contest," said Gretchen Hofmann, Universal Orlando's senior vice president of marketing.
Universal officials are quick to acknowledge that Disney is still No. 1 in this market. "But Disney is no longer the catalyst of all growth for Orlando," Hoffman said. "And we are no longer at the mercy of Disney."
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-cfbcover20012003jan20.story
