“The future can’t be predicted, but it can be envisioned and brought lovingly into being.”

— Donella Meadows

Orange County, home to the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, is in the process of re-visioning its future through its VISION 2050: A 30 Year Comprehensive Planning initiative. With future policies set to focus on resiliency, placemaking, affordability, context-driven planning and performance-based development, Orange County is seeking to develop a more sustainable path for its next 30 years.

One of the County’s strongest sectors is hospitality and tourism with over 75 million visitors to the Orlando area in 2019, generating approximately $300 million in tourist taxes. As the home of world-leading theme parks, hotels and resorts, and entertainment and convention venues, in addition to a myriad of smaller urban, rural and eco-tourism attractions, Orange County is a premier destination for domestic and international tourists. Planning for the future is thus critical and integral to the Vision 2050 process; especially now with the ongoing pandemic highlighting the overall vulnerability of the industry to internal and external threats.

Your task is thus to predict what YOU think hospitality and tourism will look like in Orange County in the year 2050! In particular:

• How can Orange County create a sustainable, equitable future for the hospitality and tourism economy that attracts visitors and at the same time addresses structural weaknesses of the sector such as low-pay, job security, well-being and quality of life etc. to advance shared prosperity and balanced growth?
• Using the tools of strategic foresight and critical imagination you will create YOUR vision for the future of hospitality and tourism in Central Florida by creating a concept for an innovative hospitality/tourism business that reflects the environmental, economic, and social needs of Central Florida in 2050.

Process

To receive 100 P.R.E.P hours students are required to:

1. Particpate in ALL FOUR  virtual workshops delivered by industry and government leaders to gain the basic knowledge and skills necessary to create the concept for a future hospitality/tourism buisness;
2. Submit a 3-minute video per the requirements listed under the Final Project – Video creation section below.

Workshop One – 1-2 pm, February 4: Sustainability and Regeneration in Hospitality and Tourism (Jared Meyers, Jenifer Rupert and Jeff Benavides)  
What is sustainability and regeneration, what are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how may they shape the future of hospitality and tourism in Orange County? The workshop will provide an overview of the main themes of sustainability/regeneration, provide real examples of how they are impacting hospitality and tourism already, and the future external trends that are expediting the need for change across most industrial sectors but especially hospitality and tourism.  In particular, the workshop will highlight existing structural weaknesses of the sector and identify how more sustainable “stakeholder” approaches can enable more shared prosperity and balanced growth by 2050.

Workshop Two – 1-2 pm, February 11: How to Think Like a Futurist (Joe Tankersley)
This workshop introduces students to the basics of strategic foresight. Students will learn how to look for weak signals and drivers of change that will create opportunities and challenges in the coming decades.

Workshop Three – 1-2 pm, February 18: Basics of Tourism Experience Design (Carissa Baker and Alan Fyall)
From roadside attraction to major theme park, all successful hospitality/tourism businesses share certain common features. This workshop provides an introduction to the foundation of tourism experience design.

Workshop Four – 1-2 pm, February 25: Futures Storytelling and Video Production Tips (Carissa Baker, Joe Tankersley and Gisele Canova)
During this facilitated blue-sky session, students will learn how to combine the elements of foresight with experience design to create the story for a specific future hospitality or tourism experience. They will learn how to tell these stories by creating artifacts from the future. These artifacts might include postcards and tourism brochures.

Register for each workshop using the links below:

• Workshop 1: https://ucf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIscempqzwiHdAa5DpzTsGYFh8yyN8rCutN
• Workshop 2: https://ucf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsdeirqj0pH9IDzHNy2bTRGPK38hGHAD-g
• Workshop 3: https://ucf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIoc-uqrDgsGNYcFrxJTnaa_RvB5XROJy_6
• Workshop 4: https://ucf.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqd-GgqDkoEtTsVJ4WDELwjlHY559AQPHz

 

Vision 2050  Thursday, Feb 4, 2021:

• Vision 2050 Sustainability & Regeneration in Hospitality and Tourism Introduction
• Vision 2050 Overview
• Vision 2050 B Corp
• Watch the Feb 4, 2021, Workshop

 

Vision 2050 Thursday, Feb 11, 2021:

• Resource List
• Watch the Feb 11, 2021, Workshop

 

Vision 2050 Thursday, Feb 18, 2021:

• Watch the Feb 18, 2021, Workshop

Vision 2050 Thursday, Feb 25, 2021:

• Watch the Feb 25, 2021, Workshop

 

 

Final Project- Video Creation

Click the link for Inspiration:

“Future Sustainable Thinking” with Jared Meyers, Legacy Vacation Resorts

 

• Students will work individually or in groups (self-selecting/4 maximum in each group) and create a concept for an innovative hospitality/tourism business that reflects the environmental, economic, and social needs of Central Florida in 2050.
• There will be two categories: undergraduate and graduate.
• Each individual/group will tell the story of their business by creating a maximum of three-minute video which can include visual and/or verbal content.
• Each video needs to be uploaded on the Hospitality and Tourism Vision 2050 page in the HUB web course no later than March 25, 2021.

All videos will be evaluated by leading hospitality and tourism professionals from across Orange County.  

Your three-minute video needs to:

1.  Clearly state how your innovative business concept can help Orange County create a sustainable, equitable future for the hospitality and tourism economy that attracts visitors and at the same time addresses structural weaknesses of the sector such as low-pay, job security, well-being and quality of life etc. to advance shared prosperity and balanced growth?
2. Show that your business concept incorporates future trends and reflects sustainability and equity goals;
3. Identify points of reference with other competing destinations and clarify how Orange County can anhance its longer-term competitive edge. For example, will Orange County continue to be known and respected as a destination for exceptional “experiences” and “memories”?
4. Show how your innovative business concept may impact the future structure of the lodging sector (i.e. large versus small resorts, “distributed” lodging)
5. Demonstrate creativity and orginality of concept.
6. Be consistent with the specific future context of Orange County and their Vision 2050!
7. Be no longer than three minutes;
8. Must be submitted as MP4 File;
9. Include the following: all Students names, major, and logo of the Rosen College (provided on the HUB webcourse page)

The Top 20 Outstanding submissions will be presented to the Orange County Mayor for him and his team to identify the top three award-winning future business ideas. Award winners will receive certificates from the Mayor of Orange County.

ALL submissions will receive 100 P.R.E.P Open 250 hours on the condition that ALL  individuals/group members enroll for all four workshops!!

To Apply, post on the HUB webcourse editable page here: https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1344758/pages/hospitality-and-tourism-vision-2050-submission-page

 

Orange County Vision 2050 https://www.orangecountyfl.net/PlanningDevelopment/ComprehensivePlanning/Vision2050.aspx#.YAIUbehKiUk