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Travel & Tourism Business Briefs - Dec. 2007
TRAVEL
» Following research that included focus groups in Chicago, New York and Orlando, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has renamed itself Visit St. Petersburg Clearwater. The Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, meanwhile, now calls itself Tampa & Company.
» Tampa Airport Marriott has opened the city’s first dedicated hotel kosher kitchen.
ATTRACTIONS
» Busch Entertainment, the Anheuser-Busch division that oversees theme parks, is moving its headquarters from St. Louis to Orlando by July. Jim Atchison has been promoted from general manager of SeaWorld Orlando to president and COO of Busch Entertainment.
RESORTS
» International Plaza Resort & Spa, the former 1,100-unit Sheraton World Resort convention hotel, has been converted into a condo/hotel by new owners Buena Vista Hospitality Group and private equity firm UrbanAmerica.
» Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa, one of the largest condo/hotel projects in the country, has opened its fourth of 10 buildings planned for its site near I-4 and Downtown Disney. The property, which eventually will have 1,875 units, now has 478 units, each with two, three or four bedrooms.
