How has Experience Kissimmee evolved over the past decade?
Since the organisation transitioned from a government agency to a public–private entity 11 years ago, we’ve experienced significant expansion. Our team has grown from around 30 employees to 68, and our global footprint has expanded from three international offices to 17.
The destination itself has transformed as well: what used to be cow pastures just seven or eight years ago is now home to major developments like Margaritaville, the Embassy Suites, and the entire Sunset Walk entertainment district.
And there’s more coming. Major projects underway include a large-scale development anchored by a five-star Mysk hotel (a Dubai-based brand managed by Kempinski) and a full-scale Nickelodeon resort linked to a new shopping and dining promenade. These developments signal Kissimmee’s rapid evolution and strong future demand.
What are your top international markets and what trends are you seeing?
The UK has consistently been our number one long-haul market. Brits have deep affection for the theme parks, and demand surged again this summer with the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe.
Overall, international visitation has been very strong this year with particularly robust performance from the UK and Brazil.
How did the pandemic affect your international strategy?
During the pandemic, many destinations shut down their overseas offices or dramatically reduced investment. We made a different choice: we stayed in every market. We maintained all 17 international offices, scaled back, yes, but operating.
This allowed us to stay fully informed about restrictions, develop local insights, maintain relationships with airlines and tour operators, and keep partners updated on what was happening in Central Florida. When borders reopened, we were able to restart quickly because our groundwork never stopped. That continuity has paid enormous dividends now that global travel is fully rebounding.
What sets Osceola County apart from Orlando and other nearby destinations?
Osceola County offers something you can’t find elsewhere in Central Florida: a perfect blend of world-famous theme parks and untouched natural experiences. For example, you can stand in the shadow of a castle at a theme park and within 30 minutes be kayaking under 400-year-old cypress trees in Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades. We also have:
- Gatorland, one of Florida’s oldest attractions and still family-owned after 75 years
- the largest population of American bald eagles in the contiguous United States
- incredible airboat tours along the Kissimmee River Basin
- dark-sky areas ideal for astronomy.
This combination of high-energy attractions and serene, authentic nature makes the destination uniquely diverse and appealing.
Vacation homes seem to be a major part of the destination. What makes them special?
Kissimmee is officially the ‘Vacation Home Capital of the World’, with more than 32,000 homes, from modest two-bedroom condos to enormous 20–22-bedroom estates. The mega-mansions are remarkable. Some include bowling alleys, cinemas, arcades, saunas, themed rooms, backyard lagoons, and extraordinary custom features (one even has a three-storey rocket ship).
These homes attract families, multigenerational groups, celebrities, and increasingly corporate retreats. Everything can be arranged: private chefs, grocery deliveries, luxury cars, butlers, daily housekeeping, nannies, dog groomers and more.
Our sales teams worked directly with tour operators to explain what our product really is, and our media team worked closely with journalists so they could communicate it accurately. The key message was this: about 90–95% of our vacation homes are managed by professional companies, and many of them were purpose-built specifically as vacation rentals. No one has ever lived in these homes. They aren’t someone’s spare room, they are professionally managed, resort-quality accommodations.
What really sets them apart is that each community also has a full resort centre: a huge pool complex with slides, restaurants, bars, concierge services, fitness facilities—everything you’d find in a top hotel. And guests still have their own home to return to across the street.
Add complimentary shuttle service to theme parks and outlet malls, and the value becomes incredible. Sometimes you can get a three-bedroom home for the same price as a single hotel room.
This ties into why Travel + Leisure recently named us the most affordable winter vacation destination. You’re not eating out for every meal, you’re not paying $12 for a minibar beer and with grocery delivery you don’t even have to leave the house to stock the fridge.
Can you explain the new Gastro Obscura / Atlas Obscura Latin food trail?
Osceola County is one of the most culturally diverse counties in the US—56% of our population is Hispanic. Rather than create another beer or wine trail, we wanted something that genuinely reflected our community.
We partnered with Atlas Obscura and Gastro Obscura because they specialise in uncovering authentic, off-the-beaten-path places. The resulting trail highlights mom-and-pop Latin American restaurants (Colombian, Mexican, Venezuelan, Caribbean, and more) many of them run by second or third generation families with deep cultural roots.
The trail launched during National Hispanic Heritage Month with 20 restaurants and will expand to 40 next year. Each listing includes stories, cultural background, and an interactive map. Local response has been tremendous, and it’s helping support both residents and visitors in discovering the county’s rich culinary heritage.
How are you working with the UK and Ireland trade to promote the destination?
The UK is one of Kissimmee’s strongest long-haul markets, and we invest heavily there. We focus particularly on in-person travel agent engagement. I’m not a believer in passive online training modules; I want direct interaction through small group sessions, Zoom discussions and Q&A opportunities so agents can really understand our product and ask questions about selling vacation homes.
We run a full schedule of travel agent trainings each year throughout the UK and Northern Ireland. On top of that, we do substantial trade advertising, co-op campaigns, and strategic marketing with major operators including Virgin Holidays, British Airways Holidays, Ocean Holidays, and many others.
Next year, we are launching a major Boxing Day campaign in partnership with Epic Universe and Universal. It will run for six weeks during the peak booking period. One of the most effective patterns we see among UK visitors is a combination stay: a few nights in a Universal hotel, so they get early park access and onsite perks, followed by several days in a vacation home to explore the rest of Central Florida.
We work closely with Universal and other theme park partners to support those blended itineraries, because they’re incredibly popular and offer huge value.
We also host regular fam trips, and we ramp those up whenever additional airline capacity returns to the market.
