Greater Fort Lauderdale Posts a 'High Water Mark' With Record Setting April
GREATER FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, June 16, 2005. Greater Fort Lauderdale continues to build upon its record-setting winter tourism season. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau reported another consecutive month of positive growth in April, surpassing for the fourth straight month the high benchmarks it set for itself during the same period last year. For April 2005, the destination's occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and bed tax collections all topped April 2004's figures.
Greater Fort Lauderdale's ADR reached $108.19, a 7% increase over 2004 and the highest ever mark for the month of April. Occupancy reached 80.2%, an increase over last year at the same time. Bed tax reached $3,430,478.33, topping the collections in April 2004 of $3,132,359.05 by a healthy 9.5%.
"Obviously, you can't take our entire story just from the numbers," said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. "However, we view our steady growth as a sign that Greater Fort Lauderdale continues to be a top leisure and convention destination."
Strong numbers are also anticipated for the spring and summer season, with two large-scale events expected to further impact tourism figures. Greater Fort Lauderdale just hosted the Organization of American States, a gathering that had an estimated economic impact of $30 million. Also, July brings the Bank of America 2005 World Youth Netball Championships to Greater Fort Lauderdale.
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