SHARE:
Thursday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Tourism industry encouraged as hotel bookings rise for holidays
A new, encouraging sign for the tourism industry is the number of hotel rooms being booked in advance for the holidays. According to Visit Orlando, advance hotel bookings for the holiday season, which runs from Christmas to New Years, are currently about 91% of what they were for the same week in 2019 which was pre-pandemic. As for whether the spike in tourism will last, analysts say it will take time for some travel segments to rebound. More from WESH.
With travel ban lifted, international buyers could make the South Florida real estate market even hotter
South Florida real estate agents are bracing for a wave of international buyers to flood the South Florida housing market as a result of the federal government easing pandemic-related travel restrictions on Monday. If the influx is as large as anticipated, a tight housing market will grow even more competitive. In Florida, foreign buyers make up about 5% of the dollar volume of sales. Experts believe that with travel restrictions lifted, they’ll be making their way to South Florida to buy a home or condo. More from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Mary McLeod Bethune’s statue from Florida will make history in the U.S. Capitol
Early next year, Florida will send a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace a statue of a Confederate general in the U.S. Capitol, making her the first Black person to represent a state in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Bethune was an educator and civil rights activist. In 1904, she started a school for Black girls in Daytona Beach, which later became Bethune-Cookman University. She was also an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. More from the Tampa Bay Times.
Disney parks double their revenue from previous year as attendance, spending soar
Increased attendance and visitor spending helped Walt Disney Co. double the revenue of its parks division compared with 2020′s last quarter, but the division’s revenue remains below pre-pandemic levels, the company revealed in an earnings call Wednesday. The Parks, Experience and Products division generated $5.4 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, compared with the $2.7 billion over the same quarter in 2020. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
The 2021 storm name list has been used, but subtropical storm Adria could form soon
A disturbance in the Atlantic could turn into subtropical storm Adria, the 22nd named storm of the season, as soon as Thursday evening, forecasters said. If the system becomes Adria, it would be the first to get a name this year from a supplemental list. That’s because the regular list has run its course as mid-November approaches. More from the Miami Herald.
Sports Business
2022 Miami Marathon, capped at 15,000, sells out. Lottery initiated for spots that open
Organizers capped the event, which usually draws 22,000 to 25,000 participants, to 15,000 after the February 2020 race for a variety of reasons that eventually included uncertainty of supply-chain issues caused by the pandemic, and initially because the event was getting too large and unwieldy for the streets and an optimum running experience, race director Frankie Ruiz said.
» More from the Miami Herald.
Profile
Sisters build leadership brand on bravery — and mountain climbs
Candice and Lauren Henry share leadership wisdom and counsel that runs counter to their youthful exuberance. Under the brand name Aretios, the Henry sisters offer a suite of leadership services.The list of services includes a leadership-centric newsletter, podcasts, social media and video content; leadership seminars and courses for nonprofits and for-profit businesses; teaching personal and professional leadership classes at Southeastern University, a Christian-based liberal arts college in Lakeland; and a goal-setting journaling guidebook called The Daily.
» Read more from the Business Observer.
In case you missed it:
