The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Fort Lauderdale Takes Center Stage at IPW 2026
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This week's show is all about sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida where we attended IPW 2026 last week — one of the travel industry’s premier international marketplaces, hosted by Brand USA and the US Travel Association. One of the conversations we had was with Visit Lauderdale sharing all the fun things Ft Lauderdale has to offer. I also had a sit down with Brand USA, talking about traveling to the US, visitation numbers and the plan going forward.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. This week's show is all about sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where we attended IPW 2026 last week, one of the travel industry's premier international marketplaces hosted by Brand USA and the U.S. Travel Association. Beyond the meetings and networking, we had the chance to experience some of what makes Fort Lauderdale such a popular vacation destination. Some of the highlights included cruising the city's scenic waterways aboard their iconic water taxi. We also managed to venture beyond the city to the famous Florida Everglades, taking a fun ride looking for gators on an airboat. In fact, one of the conversations that we will share with you in this is with Visit Lauderdale. And I highly recommend checking out our social media pages and formed traveler and Instagram and informed traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and photos from our visitors for Lauderdale.
Brand USA
SPEAKER_01One of the hosts of IPW 2026. It was here that we talked about traveling to the US, visitation numbers, and the plan going forward. So here's that conversation for you now. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much. We really appreciate your interest, and this has been a great week here in Fort Lauderdale. I hope you've had a chance to get out to the beach.
SPEAKER_01We did. To start, let's just explain what brand USA does, what your mandate is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Brand USA is the nation's destination marketing organization, and our remit is really to grow international travel to the United States. So we're really interested in impacting the U.S. economy by boosting travel exports and bringing in those higher spending, high impact international visitors. What's really important there is they stay longer, they spend more, and so they're really a segment that everyone wants. But I will say I've seen the ups and the downs. So I've seen in New York, for instance, 10 consecutive years of record growth, and then of course we had COVID and we had to adapt and recalibrate. But then I saw what came out of that and the recovery of that. And now we're seeing some headwinds here, but I also feel very confident that the United States is going to continue to grow, international visitation is going to continue to prosper, and you know, there might be some hurdles along the way, but at the end of the day, we've got a great product. We've got audiences around the world interested in wanting to experience it, and so I'm feeling um I'm feeling bullish.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and speaking of, you know, uh glitches along the way, doesn't matter what survey you're looking at, it's 30% visitorship down from Canada, 25, 15, depends on the survey of the week, really, but it's down. And we don't need to get into the reasons why people go or don't go. I look at it as still 70 to 75 percent of people are still coming from Canada to the United States. So, I mean that's a good starting point. Is it just is it to the point where we've had it so good for so long between the two nations that any little glitch now it's like, oh.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, Canada is such a critical northern neighbor, and we love Canada. It's a foundational uh market for the United States, and many of our destination partners really want to make sure that Canadians continue to flock to the United States, and we do too, because they are our right now number two market, before they were our number one. Uh last year we had 16 million visitors from Canada. Uh that's not too shabby uh given some of the headwinds that we are encountering. That being said, it is our hope and our commitment to want to make sure that we continue to make this market feel welcome and that we're gonna do what we can to move it and to affect the movable middle, as you said, uh, and get them convinced to really take that trip to the U.S. What I'm feeling great about is our destination partners are in the game. Our airline partners are launching new routes, and the accessibility into the US has never been better. And so I think uh people will make the decision that's best for them, uh depending on a number of different criteria. But our hope is they will come and they'll start to uh experience, you know, what they've always loved about us, which is the people, the places, the landscapes, the hidden gems, all of what we have on tap here.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Um and uh what we learned today at uh at the press conference was like you're not sitting on your laurels, like you mentioned. We're not you're not sitting there and go, oh, woe is us. You're gonna do something about it. And so and uh one of the things that I learned today was a program called GetFacts Get Going. Can you explain that a little bit?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, GetFacts Get Going is really designed to boost traveler confidence. Um it's a little bit of a new way for us to lean more into what we're mandated to do, which is uh communicate entry policies, visa and entry policies. Uh and so we want to make sure that visitors have all the tools that they need at their fingertips, but that they also have accurate and factual information so that in case that they're on the fence, um, they can get the facts and get the information uh and make sure that they're armed with that intel uh to have confidence to come. And so that's a really important aspect of what we do at Brand USA is really providing that entry information and um, like I said, boosting confidence.
SPEAKER_01And and that's a result of a couple of other words that came up, and that's misconceptions, uh partial untruths. Can you give an example maybe of something like that?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, we have sixty-three national parks in the United States, and there's this new $100 fee for international travelers, but that fee is only relevant for 11 of the 63 parks. So even just getting that information out uh into the marketplace is important. The other thing is I don't know if people uh there may be a perception that we're not welcoming, and we want to make sure that, well, absolutely, we warmly welcome international visitors, and they're not gonna have the struggles at the border that maybe they think they're gonna have. So it's really about, like I said, boosting confidence, reassuring, and giving them that extra push to say, you know what, I was thinking about going, but now I think I'm gonna be all right. I'm not worried that there's gonna be an issue with my paperwork or that I'm not gonna feel welcome. It's like they're telling me that I will be. So I think that's gonna be helpful.
SPEAKER_01Well, I can speak from experience, I've never had an issue. So um anything else? Any like I I'm assuming I'm gonna hear the message that we heard today, but uh anything that you want to say to just travelers in general and to Canadians, I'm I'm sure it's a welcoming message.
SPEAKER_00Well, we love Canadians and we are all up in the market consistently. We've been up there uh many times. I was just up there in February meeting with journalists. We've had uh journalists that have come into the United States to visit. We're gonna be doing uh some uh trade activity later in the fall. We're looking at some marketing campaigns and some uh ways that we can really help move that um move that market more. And we're also launching a new campaign this week, um actually an expansion of the America the Beautiful campaign called American Originals. And this is a new initiative that sits alongside Get Facts, get going, but is more the inspiration piece. So as we continue to market the U.S., we want to make sure they've got the right stories, that we go deeper into the destination storytelling. So we just released four new episodes highlighting areas like Texas and the barbecue scene in Austin, Memphis and the um birthplace of rock and roll. We're talking about New York City and Broadway scene. And if you go on the Arizona-Utah border, you're gonna experience Monument Valley. And that's really a chance for us to highlight uh, you know, some of the set jetting. Um, this is this is an area that's been featured in cinema. We want to make sure people get to experience some of these lesser-known gems. So we're really pulling the stops out to try to, like I said, uh boost confidence, but then also inspire people. And if we can do both of those things, I think it's a win. It's a magical formula.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Anything else? I would just say go to visit theusa.com or americathebeautiful.com for more information about experience in the United States. Uh we have um, you know, AI-enabled tools from Mind Trip that will be able to help you build itineraries. And, you know, there's 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia, so it's a treasure trove of opportunity. The sky's the limit.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot to choose from, that's for sure. Chris Hayward is the senior VP of Public Relations and Chief Communications Officer at Brand USA. I do appreciate your time. I know you're very busy this week.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at the informed traveler.org. And check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informed traveler, or on Android at Informed Traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and photos from our visit to Fort Lauderdale. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our main issue is available now. Just go to our website, the informed traveler.org. Click on the newsletter button, and it will take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrived in your in Lauderdale. Well, as I mentioned, our show this week
Ft Lauderdale, FLA
SPEAKER_01highlights our visit to Fort Lauderdale for the annual IPW travel conference. It's a chance for Fort Lauderdale to showcase everything it has to offer. And they did a fabulous job. And to explain further now what there is to see and do in Fort Lauderdale. I'm going to play a conversation I had with Tracy Vaughn. She's the senior vice president of Global Trade Development with Visit Lauderdale. Visit Lauderdale.com is their website. And here's that for you now. Thank you for uh doing this. I know this is a very busy week for you, Tracy.
SPEAKER_03It's been a fantastic week. We're going to show off all of our beautiful destinations. We know people sell what they know, and now they know Greater Fort Lauderdale.
SPEAKER_01For me personally, though, this is a bit of a homecoming because I used to work in the cruise industry. I worked for Holland America, and uh Fort Lauderdale was my home port for about six months. But I think for s for a lot of people, that's their first taste of Fort Lauderdale, right? Is taking a cruise, maybe spending a couple of days post or or uh pre-cruising, right?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Port Everglades is a fantastic port. We have eight different terminals, um, major cruise lines, and our cruise business is booming. We are 20% over year over year, and we're seeing Legends of the Seas coming in this November for Royal Caribbean. We're very excited about that. But absolutely, people come here, they get on cruises, they actually normally they people want to do a pre or a post and then they learn that we are a great destination in ourselves. And then they a lot of times they want to come back and just have a vacation right here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well exactly, and that's so the whole point of kind of cruising, right? Is to just to do that. Um but that was like twenty-five years ago for me. There has been a lot of changes, and I you you know, I can't even recognize the the Port Everglades area.
SPEAKER_03Oh, we've had so many changes and and truly have gone through a renaissance, I'd say, in the last six years. It's been absolutely amazing. Um hotels that have popped up, and particularly in that luxury element that we've been seeing in the last five years. We've seen that four seasons come in. We now have an omni that's just absolutely gorgeous, that's really connected to our convention center, connected to our port. They provide service to you know it uh to the port itself. Pier 66 is an absolute gorgeous property. It was iconic for years and years. They gutted it, they reimagined it. It is absolutely beautiful, five-star. It has a super yacht marina. If you're looking for luxury, we've got the luxury. We also have the Ritz Carlton, the Conrad. A lot of our properties have undergone major renovations to keep up with the new properties. You know, they got to keep up. And so you're just gonna see a different vibe here, that luxury element. But I want to say too, it's a very casual luxury. You kind of don't see it per se. It's but you know, we we're also you know, the the yachting capital of the world. We got 50,000 registered boats here. Um so you kind of feel it in that sense because when you're you're at these properties, you're looking out at these boats that are cruising along the intracoastal, it's pretty amazing.
SPEAKER_01It is pretty amazing, and yes, you do see a lot of yachts, uh, and that's because of the canal system here that's known as the Venice of America, am I correct?
SPEAKER_03That is correct. We have 300 miles of waterways, and what's interesting about this community, and one of the things I love about it, is we're really a water culture because along the east is our beautiful Atlantic Ocean. We've got 24 miles of beaches there. And our western part of our county is actually the Everglades, and it's two-thirds of our county actually, and I love the Everglades because it is a one-of-a-kind ecosystem. You're not going to find anything like it anywhere else in the world. It's a must-do when you're here to go experience it, uh, where you get to see the alligators go out on an airboat. It's absolutely amazing. But what connects the two is these 300 miles of waterways, and that is so much fun. It is our version of hop on, hop off buses, but they're boats, and you there's over 30 stops. You can pick it up downtown, Fort Lauderdale, take it as far north as Pompano Beach, and as far south as Hollywood, and in between all of that are 30 different stops, and you can hop off, explore, you can dine. We've got dock and dine. Where else do you do that? You can stop at 15th Street Fisheries, have lunch, hop back on, head up to Birch State Park and and do some hiking there. So it's just so amazing. Yes, we love our water culture.
SPEAKER_01Well, and it's a cool way to to to see this the city because from speaking again personally, I come from a landlocked city, so it is kind of cool. And you and you can branch out into the ocean too, take a uh a tour out that direction, and uh again uh explore the Everglades. There is so there's a lot of things to do here.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. I mean if you want to go deep sea fishing, beautiful opportunity to go. We've got charters that'll take you out, you know, exciting to go fishing. I love fishing myself. Um of course if you're you know want to just do something as simple, not really simple, but fun and explore our mangroves, you can get in a in a uh kayak and do that if you want to paddleboard, and there's places that will help you learn how to paddleboard if you haven't done that in smooth waters. It's so much fun. And honestly, one of the best ways when I first moved here myself was to get in a kayak and kayak those waterways. Go behind and you're it's kind of behind the scenes because you're going through these different canals and you're seeing the back of people's homes with their yachts. That's really fun to do, and you can do tours like that too. So they'll take you and they'll tell you some of the stories and who lives in some of these homes, and it's absolutely glorious.
SPEAKER_01Uh one of the stops that we did take when we did take the water taxi that you were talking about bur uh earlier was uh the Las Olas Boulevard. Uh talk about that a bit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so Las Olas is kind of our main street through our downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is a boulevard, it's absolutely gorgeous, it's got trees, but it's where you can go to dine, you know, nice bars, wine bars. There's shopping along there, some beast spoke shopping. So it's just a nice way to you know you take the taxi, water taxi, there to stop number one at the Riverside Hotel, hop off there, you can go and have a drink, do a little shopping, you know, hear some music. It's just a fun place to go. And then get back on the taxi and go back to your hotel.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, or go on another stop somewhere else, right? That you're mentioning. And of course, we've got to talk about the beaches. If somebody wants to spend a day at the beach, they can do that too.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, and I love our beaches. We I said earlier, we got 24 miles of beaches, but we have eight different beach villages. They each have their own personality. Our most northern beach is Deerfield Beach, most southern beach is Hallendale, but we got Fort Lauderdale Beach right in the middle. We got Dania Beach, we've got Pompano, Lauderdale by the Sea, and as I said, they're they all have a little bit different vibe, but they're all fantastic, and you're guaranteed to find your spot if you want to sit in the sun, or if you want some of these beaches, uh the hotels that are right there, you can get chairs, you can get service, sit back, relax. It's an amazing way. But go out and enjoy the water too, as as well. You can go jet skiing. As I said earlier, I think you can, you know, you can you can actually go to our first reef. We've got the third largest coral reef in the world right here. You can swim to that first, it's a three-tier system. You can swim to it and snorkel and see beautiful fish. So much fun. So much fun.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Um and it's it's easy to get here, right? Because you know, you can fly into Fort Lauderdale, you can fly to Miami, and it's not that far. Even if you're uh spending a few days in Orlando, you can come here using the Bright Line train.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely, and and Miami Airport, easy, 45 minutes to my downtown, to my beach, very, very easy. Orlando, two and a half hour on the Bright Line. You can pick that Bright Line up right in Terminal C in the Orlando Airport. Brings you into my downtown. They have shuttle service as well to get you to the hotel. It's amazing. And Miami has Trirail as well, which is actually a commuter train, but it's five dollars to get to to Fort Lauderdale. Bright line's more a passenger train, it's it's an experience itself. I absolutely love it. I'm a train girl, highly recommend it if you're either one. Miami's 30 minutes away on the Bright Line, two and a half hours Orlando. Part of it's part of the experience.
SPEAKER_01It is part of the experience, and there's lots of things to experience. Anything I've missed you might want to add?
SPEAKER_03I think we've covered a lot of it. I invite everybody to come see us. I mean, we're just a beautiful destination, year-round destination. Uh, I should tell you too that we have some awesome events as well. Uh we have a big music event every year in April called Tortuga. I love it. It's on the beach, right on Fort Lauderdale Beach. It's fantastic. They get some headliners, country music. Um, and we also uh have the world's largest in-water boat show. And I mentioned we have 50,000 registered boats here, but the boat show comes and it's fascinating to see. It's always at the end of October. If you love boats, it's something you want to see because I don't know how they bring them all in, but they're all lined up and they're just spectacular to see. So lots of fun things to do here all the time. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Come for the cruise and stay for a week.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Yes, I agree with that.
SPEAKER_01Uh Tracy Vaughn is the senior VP of Global Trade Development for Visit Lauderdale, and the website is visitlauderdale.com. That's where you can find out uh all kinds of information on your visit to Fort Lauderdale. I thank you for your time, Tracy. I know you're very busy, so I do appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I very much appreciate the opportunity to talk about my favorite place.
SPEAKER_01And that's our show for this week, highlighting our visit to Fort Lauderdale for IPW 2026. We want to thank our gracious hosts from Brand USA, the U.S. Travel Association, and Visit Lauderdale. And I invite you to check out our social media pages at Facebook.com slash informed traveler and Instagram at informed traveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and photos from our visit to Fort Lauderdale. And as always, if you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email is randy at the informed traveler.org. If you like what you heard, tell a friend, and you can check out our website too, the informed traveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.