Key West’s laid back culture and cuisine make it a unique destination for an event or incentive program. Pictured: Key West Songwriters Festival. Photo courtesy of Mark Hedden / Florida Keys News Bureau

When planning a meeting or incentive trip in Florida, the destination rarely stays in the background. Meetings unfold on beaches, across waterfront promenades, inside theme parks, aboard yachts and beneath palm-lined terraces, so environments become part of the program itself.

That’s why for planners, Florida is not simply a place where corporate meetings live, it’s a setting that helps them thrive.

“Florida continues to be one of the most compelling destinations for meetings and incentives,” says Chris Weinberg, CMP, founder & CEO of Chris Weinberg Events. “It’s the accessibility, year-round hospitality infrastructure and the blend of culture, cuisine and natural beauty.”

What gives the Sunshine State its sustained edge is not just weather or capacity, but how intentionally planners can match emotional outcomes to distinct markets. For instance, Orlando energizes massive youth conferences and trade-heavy meetings; Tampa Bay rewards collaboration inside a walkable, waterfront core; South Florida thrives on destination-driven incentives and cultural immersion; The Gulf Coast leans into restoration, luxury and intimacy; and Daytona Beach injects adrenaline into traditional convention structures.

Each city delivers differently. Together, they form one of the most versatile meeting and incentive portfolios in the country.

Just minutes from theme parks and the convention center, Rosen Shingle Creek has plenty of meeting space and a championship golf course in the heart of Orlando.

Orlando

Orlando offers a number of compelling reasons for planners to choose the destination for their meetings and incentive trips, as the city can deliver memorable, highly attended events with ease due to the community’s commitment to hospitality and exceptional service.

For Christopher Young, CAE, chief program officer of DECA Inc., Orlando offers something special. “We have a conference of more than 25,000 high school students and teachers, so it requires very specific needs,” Young says. “Hotels that can offer an abundance of double/double rooms to total over 10,000 on peak, competitive events halls, an exhibit hall and lots of workshops, and ample activities for our attendees to engage in when their conference day has concluded.”

Those requirements continue to bring DECA back to Orlando repeatedly, including for the 2025 International Career Development Conference. “With that many attendees, they need attractions that can engage their interest and desire to explore a city beyond the conference itself,” Young says.

Orlando’s true strength often appears in quieter operational moments. DECA relies on more than 1,000 volunteer business professionals to evaluate students during competition, a talent pool that few destinations can supply at that scale.

“In partnership with Visit Orlando and the greater business community, DECA was able to recruit more than enough volunteers,” Young says. “They went above and beyond to explain the significant impact DECA provides not only immediately on the local area, but also for the future of our workforce.”

During the National Association of Home Builders and the National Kitchen & Bath Association shows this year, Visit Orlando hosted a planning team dinner at Michelin-recognized Capa Steakhouse at Four Seasons Orlando Resort at Walt Disney World Resort. The event included a police escort to the venue, a local guitar player and ended on the restaurant’s rooftop balcony to view the fireworks from both the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. The client shared with Visit Orlando that they had never received this level of VIP treatment from any other city.

The Grand Hyatt Miami Beach will offer 800 guestrooms and 90,000 sf of meeting and event space a few blocks from the ocean when it opens in 2027.

Miami

Miami offers the perfect balance of world-class infrastructure and practical advantages for successful events.

The 800-room Grand Hyatt Miami Beach, slated to open in 2027, is highly anticipated. It will provide about 90,000 sf of indoor space with an additional 10,000 sf outdoors. It offers easy access to shopping and dining, and the nearby beach, as well as a resort-style pool deck with panoramic views.

For Weinberg, the power of South Florida lies in contrast with how quickly a group can move between high-energy urban programming and total coastal seclusion. Her team has executed programs at properties including The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, Kimpton EPIC Hotel Miami, The Biltmore Hotel Miami-Coral Gables and the Hilton in Key Largo, often blending multiple markets into a single itinerary.

At the St. Regis Bal Harbour, Weinberg hosted a 65-person executive leadership retreat designed around strategic alignment and privacy. “The group required absolute discretion, impeccable service and spaces that created an atmosphere of calm focus,” she says.

South of the city, the Florida Keys serve as the emotional counterweight. With programming centered on wellness, snorkeling, sailing, eco-tours and outdoor receptions, the Keys lend themselves naturally to executive retreats and incentive programs focused on connection and restoration.

For a 120-person international incentive program, Weinberg paired downtown Miami with Key Largo to create emotional contrast within the same trip. “The Keys’ natural beauty and slower pace set the tone immediately,” she says. “Miami added the international energy.”

One sunset welcome reception in Key Largo delivered an unscripted moment few planners would ever forget. “At a sunset reception, a pod of dolphins surfaced offshore as the group gathered,” Weinberg says. “It wasn’t planned, but it was truly unforgettable.”

Florida’s weather and seasonality always sit just beneath the surface of planning strategy.

“We always prepare a Plan B and Plan C,” Weinberg says. “Florida rewards foresight.”

Sitting on the Intracoastal Waterway, The Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel provides expansive meeting spaces, six dining venues and a great view.

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale’s array of hotel offerings, as well as its culinary talent and unique dining scene, are big drivers for meeting planners to choose this Florida city. Add in the year-round beautiful weather, outdoor venues and an abundance of activities, and it’s no surprise that Fort Lauderdale is becoming a favorite meeting destination.

The new Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel recently opened on the Intracoastal and offers 120,000 sf of meeting and event space as well as 801 guestrooms.

Another popular spot for meetings is Pier Sixty-Six with its world-class amenities and marina views. It offers more than 43,000 sf of flexible indoor and outdoor meetings and events spaces with 16 meeting rooms and three signature ballrooms.

Lauren Halpern, CMP, a meeting & event planner with Make a Statement Events, noted Fort Lauderdale and nearby Hollywood offer a perfect balance of accessibility, beachfront beauty and vibrant local culture. The company’s annual incentive program is held in South Florida and brings together 64 attendees. “The goal is to celebrate award winners and their guests with a special four-day, three-night experience,” she says. “We selected a destination just 30–45 minutes from company headquarters to ensure accessibility. Staying close also allows the leadership team to easily attend the awards dinner, which is an important highlight of the program.”

Halpern suggests attendees take full advantage of Hollywood Beach’s walkability and the variety of nearby excursions.

“Incorporating local flavor into the program elevates the attendee experience and makes the event feel truly distinctive,” she says. “Since most participants come from across the U.S. — often from rural areas — the setting feels especially unique and memorable.”

By day, attendees gravitate to the Hollywood Broadwalk for kayaking, paddleboarding, water taxis and casual beachfront strolls. By night, Halpern designs full-scale emotional punctuation.

“Evening events are always a highlight — the opening reception poolside overlooking the beach, a beautifully decorated awards night and a grand finale aboard a 132-foot yacht cruising the Intracoastal,” she says.

The iconic guitar hotel serves as a beacon to all those seeking great entertainment, fine dining and lively gaming at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. Photo courtesy of Costea Photography, Inc.

Also in Hollywood is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. It offers 1,271 rooms and suites, as well as 120,000 sf of meeting and event space, including a 38,000 sf exhibition hall and plenty of room for poolside functions. Outside of the event itself, attendees can enjoy games, entertainment, gourmet dining and high-class shopping options.

Halpern says that they intentionally include local culture into the experience of their events. Past programs have included Calle Ocho food tours in Little Havana and Everglades airboat adventures.

“These moments create lasting memories and reinforce the sense of celebration,” she says.

Ronni Burns, CMP, a former senior events and incentive leader who is still a board member with Tupperware Brands, has brought multiple incentive programs and board retreats to the area, including an 85-person incentive and recognition trip for four days and three nights held at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort; a 100-person couples incentive trip for five days and four nights that took place at B Ocean Resort Fort Lauderdale Beach; and a 40-person couples Board of Directors meeting for three days and two nights was hosted at Riverside Hotel Fort Lauderdale.

“The water taxi transfers instead of conventional taxis are the winner,” Burns says, also mentioning that the diverse options of entertainment, shopping and beaches are all not far away.

For Burns, Fort Lauderdale’s defining advantage is how naturally movement becomes part of the experience. Between yacht charters, Everglades excursions, Las Olas Boulevard dining, beachfront concerts and waterfront buyouts, Fort Lauderdale delivers incentive drama without the density that can overwhelm attendees in larger urban cores.

Chris Weinberg Events found The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort to be ideal for an executive leadership retreat. Photo courtesy of The Louis Collection

The Gulf Coast

For Debra Hull, vice president of Events of a Lifetime Productions, Florida’s Gulf Coast is as much a personal landscape as it is a professional one.

“Bringing corporate groups into our backyard is one of our favorite things to do,” Hull says.

At The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, Hull designed a 26-person executive incentive and strategic retreat that blended beachfront receptions, Ringling Museum tours, marine lagoon snorkeling and private cruising from Marina Jack. “Close your eyes and you would think you were in the Caribbean,” she says.

The luxury setting amplified the program’s emotional stakes. “One attendee actually proposed during the program,” Hull says.

She says a major differentiator on Florida’s Gulf Coast is how easily planners can have luxury without losing warmth or personalization. “The service standards here allow us to create highly elevated experiences that still feel effortless and intimate,” she says. For example, at The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, the design flexibility of terraces, penthouse spaces and beachfront venues allowed her team to customize every transition point of the program, from sunrise strategy sessions to evening culinary moments without ever breaking the flow of the guest experience.

Across Florida, Hull says planners must remain vigilant about weather, transportation and seasonal pricing. “We problem-solve quietly so our clients never feel the tremors,” she says. That proactive mindset allows Florida programs to feel effortless even when conditions behind the scenes are anything but.

Fort Myers, with its history and charm, is a great place for meeting planners wanting to get away from it all.

Fort Myers

Fort Myers continues to draw planners seeking relaxed coastal experiences supported by simple logistics. Southwest Florida International Airport provides smooth national access, while downtown Fort Myers offers walkable streets lined with independent restaurants, historic venues and waterfront gathering spaces.

The surrounding islands and beaches naturally lend themselves to kayaking, dolphin tours, wellness programming and sunset receptions. Hotels across the destination emphasize indoor-outdoor meeting flexibility, allowing sessions to transition fluidly into pool decks, terraces and coastal dining environments.

Sustainability initiatives continue to gain traction, particularly among groups seeking nature-forward experiences without sacrificing service.

Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach occupies a unique place in Florida’s meetings landscape by pairing true meeting capability with iconic, high-energy offsites. The Ocean Center, currently undergoing a $40 million renovation, delivers more than 205,000 sf of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space just steps from the Atlantic Ocean.

Multiple oceanfront resorts and lifestyle hotels support the center within walking distance, while additional properties surround Daytona International Speedway.

Beyond the ballroom, Daytona’s offsite experiences lean unapologetically experiential. Groups incorporate exclusive Speedway programs, PopStroke mini-golf buyouts, events at Jackie Robinson Ballpark and beachfront campfires that transform evening receptions into coastal rituals. The ability to provide exclusivity without overwhelming crowd density remains one of Daytona’s strongest incentives for planners.

Every February, the Knights of Sant’ Yago Knight Parade makes its way down 7th Avenue in Ybor City in Tampa celebrating Latin culture.

Tampa

Tampa feels both energized and navigable. The meetings momentum here continues to be fueled by the expansion of the Water Street district, which clusters hotels, dining, nightlife and waterfront experiences within a clean, pedestrian-friendly footprint.

Tampa is an ideal choice: a vibrant, accessible city with a wide range of excursion options that appeal to every participant type.

Tampa’s offsite experiences range from high-adrenaline driving at The Motor Enclave to culturally rich programming at the historic J.C. Newman Cigar Factory. That close proximity proves critical when Tampa’s shared calendar of sports, tourism and conventions create real-time logistical challenges.

Florida’s Flexibility

Florida’s enduring appeal is not built on any single skyline, shoreline or ballroom. It is built on contrast and on the planner’s ability to move easily between those contrasts inside a single state.

In one week, a sales executive may watch sunrise wash across Longboat Key before a strategy session. The next, an incentive winner may spend an afternoon cruising the Intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale and end the evening aboard a yacht beneath city lights. Another group might find its most meaningful connection on a catamaran in the Florida Keys as dolphins surface just offshore.

What binds these moments together is not geography, it is flexibility. After all, Florida allows planners to design emotion as deliberately as logistics. The environment delivers the memory.

For meetings and incentives, Florida is not simply where programs take place, it’s how they come alive and become memorable. C&IT