Officials Plan Florida Trip for Resort Ideas

Anaheim officials will travel to Orlando, Fla., in May to tour that city’s convention center and resort areas, the goal being to learn from that tourist destination’s rapid growth and bring those lessons home.

As Anaheim embarks on a $4-billion improvement of its resort area, officials said, the May 16-18 Florida visit will be worthwhile.

“There are two primary reasons to go,” Mayor Tom Daly said. “The first is to see firsthand how the theme parks and hotel operations work together. The second is to see how the Orlando convention center coordinates with all of the other visitor attractions and services in the area.”

City spokesman Brett Colson said the mayor and four council members will probably make the trip, along with five administrators, including City Manager James D. Ruth.

The trip will be paid from the proceeds of bonds sold to pay for resort improvements.

“There will be no impact on the general fund,” Colson said.

Councilman Tom Tait said that Orlando has grown rapidly along with a boom in its tourism industry. “Hopefully they have some strategies that have worked and that we might adopt,” he said.

Anaheim’s resort improvements, to continue through 2001, include construction of a $1.4-billion theme park at Disneyland, an expansion of Anaheim Convention Center, major freeway upgrades and improvements to streets, sewers and landscaping.

“We still have a lot of design decisions to make,” said Councilman Bob Zemel. “It’s important to see what worked and what didn’t work in Orlando.”