Unit 8 Long Haul Destinations - M2 & D2

In this report I will be assessing the significance of different features and facilities on the appeal of Florida for different types of visitors from the UK. I will then evaluate how Florida has capitalised on its features and developed its facilities to attract different types of visitors from the UK. I will be combining the two grades together by talking about how Florida has adapted to attract the separate types of customers. 

Florida appeals to different types of customers as appeals to all. I will be writing about the different types of visitors that Florida appeals to in the sub-categories.

Leisure visitors:

Families

Families love to visit Florida mainly because of the theme parks (Walt Disney World and universal parks), the parks entertain children as they offer different activities like meeting the characters, going on the rides, participating in activities in the parks and watching parades and shows. Florida has capitalised on families as they are the main type of visitors as children love to see their favourite movie characters in real life and get their autograph, they have developed the parks to suit families by having places to park the pushchairs when going on the rides, having more food suitable for children and have more activities for them to do rather than just going on rides, walking around the park and meeting the characters. 

Gap year travellers

Gap year travellers are always travelling around different destinations, some of the people may visit Disney World to go on the rides and experience what everyone talk about. Others may go to the beaches to have a relaxing year before going back to their hometown and continue with whatever they are going to do with the rest of their lives. They also may want to educate themselves by going to some art museums and go to the Kennedy Space Centre if they are interested in science. Florida has capitalised on gap year travellers as there are more people wanting to travel the world before going to university and Florida is a good place as you can have a fun time (going to the theme parks), a relaxing time (visiting the beaches) or an educational time by going to the space centre and tours at the national park.

Couples 

People may want to get married in Disney World as they want a Magical wedding and something they could experience with other people rather than a normal church wedding. 

They may also have their honeymoon in Florida because of the beautiful beaches and can have an adventurous holiday and  can go shopping in the outlets. Florida has capitalised on weddings by having more wedding venues on the hotel grounds on the Disney grounds and offering the happy couple free champagne at certain places at the park and maybe free deserts. The workers will know because the couples get given badges to wear saying just married. 

VFR (visiting friends and relatives)

Some people decide to go and live in Florida because of the weather. People may go visit family and friends because they miss them and at the same time they get a holiday out of it. They may also go visit because a personal event may be happening such as a wedding or funeral. Florida has capitalised on people visiting friends and family by offering the residents whom are being visited to bring along guests to certain things and some buffet restaurants offer discount. 

Business visitors 

There are big companies over in Florida and there is a large exhibition centre in Orlando  where some conferences take place and employees are made to travel to the conferences. Some business may fly out employees to attend a meeting that will affect the organisation. Florida has capitalised on business visitors by hosting more conferences and exhibitions at the Orange County Convention Centre. 

Other - 

Educational 

There are many places in Florida for people to learn with the main educational attraction being the space centre. Florida has capitalised on people going over there to learn as the theme parks such as Sea World, are offering a days experience at a cost of what its like to be a marine keeper and what goes on during a typical day at the park. 

Medical visitors

People would go to Florida for medical purposes such as participating in a medical trial, visiting a world renowned surgeon for an operation that surgeons in the UK may not be able to deal. Another attraction may be that they have a medicine cure for the treatment that is not available in the UK. Florida has capitalised on people travelling for medical purposes as they are constantly creating new medical trials for people all over the world to take part in. 

Volunteer

The main volunteering activities to do in Florida is look after the wildlife and the environment. The volunteers would look after the rivers and animals living in the swampy water. Another way people can volunteer but still working with animals is by being at sea world and learning about all of the animals and how to care for them. If volunteers want a different educational learning thy can euro in a program at Walt Disney World to learn about what they do there and how to keep gaining visitors. Florida has capitalised on the volunteer visitors as they realise they can offer great knowledge to the people without having to lose money from the economy but still gain money as the volunteers will spend money whilst there. 

Theme Parks
When people first think about Florida, the first that comes to mind is theme parks especially Walt Disney World. 

Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 and since then the tourist numbers have grown, yearly over forty-million visit the Floridan State and under half of them go to the theme parks. 

Weather is a well know thing for Florida as it is nicknamed as being the sunshine state. Hotel providers know holidaymakers will travel to the state when it is decent weather so they will charge more for the rooms and people will still pay for it. 

During the summer months