Orlando, Florida – Downtown Orlando hosts multiple sporting events and people said they are noticing more tourists visiting the area.
“We were able to make that trifecta happen,” said Downtown Development and Community Redevelopment Executive Director David Barilla. “There was basketball, there was soccer, there was preforming art at Dr. Phillips.”
From the NBA playoffs to the Kelly Cup Finals, City Beautiful has been busy, and people have noticed an increase in foot traffic in downtown Orlando.
“I think it's great,” said Resest Fraley, who works in downtown Orlando. “It’s bringing in tourists, people, more business, and that’s a good thing.”
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In addition to seeing more people passing through downtown, some say they've noticed other improvements as well.
“I think downtown is cleaner,” Allison Graham said. “I think a lot more people are going out.”
“There have been a lot more people lately. We're seeing a lot more tourism than before,” Gabriel Mora said. “Especially during the day.”
Allison Graham and Gabriel Mora don't live in Orlando but work downtown and said the recent buzz surrounding local teams is encouraging them to spend time and money in Orlando. .
“We were actually looking to see if there was any kind of event for Mother's Day where we could take moms out to play sports or something,” Mora said.
Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond also weighed in on how a big run by the Magic in the playoffs could increase out-of-town tourism to Orange County.
“If we can get people here from Cleveland or Boston or Denver, Minnesota, they're probably going to stay in a hotel,” Diamond said. “They're probably going to stay for a few days. They might go on a trip to a theme park. And it's really, you know, the best of all worlds, the biggest economy in that situation. You can get the effect.”
But unlike your favorite sports teams, downtown Orlando's economic growth and development doesn't require an offseason.
We asked Barilla how he plans to maintain the excitement and momentum for Downtown Orlando's growth after the season ends.
“One of our new initiatives is actually partnering with United Arts to make sure we have activities downtown every day,” Barilla said. “So we recently partnered with them to bring over 850 different experiences downtown throughout the year. So you do the math. It's like three or more at any given time.”
The Orlando Magic will face the Cleveland Cavaliers this Friday, May 3rd, at Kia Center. The Solar Bears will play their first home game on Tuesday, May 7th in the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
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