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APRIL 2011 A Place in the sun 41

It’s a buyer’s market in Central Florida, where property now is as cheap as it was 13 years ago. We recommend some buying spots there, whether you’re looking for a lettable holiday home or a more permanent residence.

It’s all go in Orlando!

Two of many theme park rides in Orlando, a major draw for holidaymakers, many of whom rent privately owned vacation homes Orlando.

You may have heard agents saying this for a few months already, but now might just be the best time to buy a home in Florida. There are persuasive signs that
both prices have really bottomed out and that a recovery is nigh. In February prices in Orlando hit their lowest level since November 1997 – with a median home price of $94,950 (£59,000), according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association – as sales are dominated by cheap cash deals.

What’s more, tourism is also booming – helped by new theme parks such as the popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter and much-anticipated Legoland on its way. Another green shoot of recovery might be detected in the rise in home loan applications, as US buyers rush to take advantage of a slide in mortgage rates. Recently there have also appeared some mortgages for overseas buyers, typically requiring 30-35 per cent deposits and with rates of seven per cent per annum.

“Now is a great time for anyone thinking of buying a home in Florida to make that decision,” said Patricia Fitzgerald, President of the Florida Association of Realtors, who reported a 14 per cent rise in sales in January. “Mortgage rates are historically low and conditions remain very favourable for buyers with a range of housing inventory and attractive prices.” So on that basis, where is best to buy in Central Florida, if you want to short-term let – or if you don’t?

A home for holiday lets In Central Florida, or the Orlando area, you can only let out your home to holidaymakers if it’s in the Short Term Rental (STR) zone, which is south-west of Disney It’s also known as the “Golden Triangle” or “Four Corners Area” because it’s where four counties converge: Orange, Lake, Osceola and Polk.

According to www.holidaylettings.co.uk, proximity to Disney is king, but whilst there’s a healthy supply of rentals in the very British oriented Davenport (best for supplies of PG Tips) and Kissimmee, there’s room for more inventory in Haines City and Clermont. Proximity to the coast (around 55 minutess from Orlando city) is less of a factor for would-be renters than the theme parks, malls and golf courses.

For Howard Thorne whose Homes of America manages rentals as well as sales, Orange Tree and High Grove are the two best performing developments for STR in the Lake country area, each pulling 26-34 weeks rental a year. “But operational costs are relevant to buyers and the difference is that Homeowners Association (upkeep) fees are $2,000 (£1,235) a year at High Grove, compared with $400 (£247) p.a. for Orange Tree,” he says (www.homesofamerica.co.uk). At High Grove (six minutes from Disney, also golf, Cagans Crossing restaurants and shops) a four-bed home costs $214,000 (£132K); at Orange Tree (10 minutes from Disney, near supermarkets and restaurants) homes cost $145,000 to $269,000 (£90K-£166K).

“Note that by the time you factor in spending $20,000 on furniture and repair costs necessary for bankowned properties, there’s often little difference in price between that and a regular one,” he adds. Other good performers he suggests with 30-42 weeks rentals are Tuscan Hills in Polk County, 12 minutes from Disney and Watersong (Davenport, 18 minutes from Disney). At both, prices kick off around $140,000 (£86K) for a three-/fourbedroom short-sale.

For Gary Kenny of Coldwell Banker Feltrim (sales and rentals), however, Tuscana four miles from Disney is a good performer with 70 per cent occupancy (around 33 weeks) expected this year. “It’s got a tried and tested rentals programme, is 12 minutes from Disney, 20 miles from the new Legoland, and next door to
Champions Gate golf course,” says Kenny (www.cbfeltrim.com). He is selling two-bedroom furnished units there for $89,500 (£55K), which were selling for $365,000 (£225K) in 2008 (www.tuscana.net).

Another choice is Haines City, much closer to Disney (20 minutes) since the widening of highways 4 and 27. “It’s grown into a good location, with great shops – including the new Posner shopping centre,” says Kenny, who is selling one-bedroom condos (unfurnished, bank-owned) on the Southern Dunes golf resort from
$39,000 (£24K) through to villas for $175,000 plus.

For sale: Short Term Rentals

Where: Kissimmee
Price: $150,000 (£93K)
This four-bed, four-bathroom home with a pool is 20 mins from Disney.
British Homes Group: 001 407 396 9914; www.britishhomesgroup.com

Where: Haines City
Price: $219,900 (£135K)
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home
on Southern Dunes Golf Course,
20 mins from Disney.
CBFeltrim: 0844 669 5990;
www.cbfeltrim.com.

CASE STUDY

“Our Sunshine State bargain”

Pharmaceutical consultant David Jakobsen and his wife Nicola recently bought in the Haines City/Davenport area of Orlando. The couple, from Liverpool, paid $175,000 (£108K) for a fourbedroom villa in the gated community of Calabay Parc at Tower Lake. Their property, which they purchased through agent CB
Feltrim, was originally priced at $300,000 (£185K). Calabay Parc, off Highway 27 and next to a large natural lake, is a 15-minute drive from Disney, 10 minutes from golf courses and just five from the nearest supermarket and restaurants. Proximity to Disney is king but whilst there’s a healthy supply of rentals in the very British-oriented Davenport (best for supplies of PG Tips) and Kissimmee, there’s room for more inventory in Haines City and Clermont because there are some people who want to be 10 minutes not 20 from Disney,” he adds.

Best for Residential

For those not needing or wanting short-term rentals the net widens – and the Doctor Phillips outlying suburb of Orlando ticks a few boxes for those wanting to stay a few months in Florida. “It’s close to Restaurant Row on Sandlake Road [a street full of highend restaurants] as well as the prestigious Bay Hill golf course, the Millennium Mall, as well as having very good schools and being 20 minutes from downtown Orlando,” says Gary Kenny. He is selling properties from $300,000 (£185K) on the leafy gated community of Turtle Creek, but really recommends Phillips Landing – a community of around 350 homes built around a lake – if you have a budget of $500K (£309K) plus.

For sale: Residential

Where: Doctor Phillips
Price: $550,000 (£340K)
A four-bed, three-bathroom corner villa over 3,000 square feet on a gated community, Phillips Landing.
CBFeltrim: 0844 669 5990; www.cbfeltrim.com.

Where: Winter Garden
Price: $325,000 (£201K)
Four-bed, three-bathroom villa in a lovely community in a superb area.
Jerry Barker Vacation Homes:
001 407 286 8170;
www.jerrybarker.com.

Howard Thorne has condos in Doctor Phillips from $175,000 (£108K) but also recommends next-door Windermere (Orlando’s own Lake District and home of Tiger Woods) as having the “most desirable zip code – 34786”. “But there are both cheap and expensive properties there: a four bedroom home in the Summerport
area costs $200,000 (£123K), or in Isleworth/Lake Butler Sound you can get a short sale five bedroom home for $685,000 (£423K),” he says. Winter Park, an upmarket northern suburb of Orlando city on a chain of lakes is also a good choice according to Bill Cowie of the British Homes Group (www.britishhomesgroup.com). “It’s a cosmopolitan, Chelsea-like area of restaurants, theatres and pubs – five minutes from downtown Orlando – where prices have remained firm,” he says. “You are looking at $300,000-$400,000 (£185K-£247K) for a single family home.” He also suggests the Disney masterplanned community of Celebration might appeal to those seeking something safe, clean and well managed – though some might finding restrictions on curtain-colour a little stifling. “Location-wise it is great, the bulls eye of the road network, and it’s got a world-class hospital and is close to the shopping outlets of the I-99 corridor. Baby condos start from $100K(£62K) but $350,000 (£216K) will get you a four-bedroom single-family home.”

Jerry Barker (www.jerrybarker.com) of the eponymous vacation homes agency also says Celebration is a favourite choice, as is another recommendation of Cowie’s – Lake Nona out by Orlando airport. “What’s special about this area – apart from the great golf courses (Nick Faldo has a home there) is it’s
getting a $2-billion (£1.23-billion) world-class medical facility which is drawing buyers,” says Barker. According to Cowie, four-bed single family homes start at around $800K (£494K). But Winter Garden – northwest of downtown Orlando – is an excellent “mid-range” choice for Barker, offering access to the Florida turnpike access for Tampa/Miami. “It’s quaint old America with homes with porches, yet it’s got a fabulous new mall area, top-class schools and it’s 20 minutes from Orlando city,” he says.

If you have any questions about buying a vacation home in Florida please call or contact us  using one of the links below.

Bill Cowie President

Orlando office 407 396 9914

Looking for a home in Florida? We do vacation rentals or can help with the purchase or finance of a Florida property. Request more information or submit a Custom Search Request for a listing of homes available in your price range.

The BRITISH HOMES GROUP Florida

From this weekend’s USA Today:

Theme park showdown: Harry Potter vs. Mickey Mouse

The eye-popping success of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been a shot in the arm for Orlando-area attractions.

By Mitch Stacy, Associated Press

ORLANDO – Craig Taylor wasn’t much interested in vacationing in Orlando with his parents this month – until he and his girlfriend plugged into the hype swirling around the new Harry Potter attraction.

So Taylor, 23, a police dispatcher who lives near Manchester, England, and girlfriend Katherine Lucarz, 22, both fans of the wildly popular books and movies about the boy wizard, decided they had to tag along to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. That’s where they were on a sunny, cool weekday afternoon in early December, taking a break among the other Muggles in the shadow of the towering Hogwarts castle.

“It’s brilliant,” says Lucarz, adding that the steep, snow-covered rooftops, crooked chimneys and shops of Hogsmeade village are even more like the movies than she imagined. Other visitors queued up just to get in the door at Ollivander’s Wand Shop, and waited an hour for the centerpiece ride, a fantastic state-of-the-art flight simulator/robocoaster called “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.”

That sort of devotion to all things Potter is precisely what Universal hoped to tap into when it debuted the $250 million attraction in June in a corner of its Islands of Adventure park.

IF YOU GO: How to get the most out of a Disney/Universal theme park visit
Harry has conjured all the magic Universal expected, and then some. In the quarter after the attraction opened, crowds at Universal parks swelled by 36% over the same stretch last year, while attendance at Disney’s Orlando parks stayed roughly the same.

But the big question is, can Universal keep the edge and take a bigger bite out of the Mouse’s historical dominance as more families shake off the recession and come back to the parks?
That’s hard to tell, industry analysts and tourism officials say, but everyone agrees that the eye-popping success of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been a shot in the arm for all the Orlando-area attractions.

Thanks to the new attraction and an improving economy, hotel occupancy rates in Orange County shot up nearly 21% in July over the same month last year, and through September were running nearly 7% ahead of 2009 totals.

“Harry Potter certainly has been a very powerful motivator,” says Gary Sain, president of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “I believe that it has helped to drive additional visitation to Orlando. And then no one just comes for one attraction, they come to visit several attractions.”

But Disney, historically good at keeping extended-stay visitors on its properties, is losing more park days to Universal now because of the Harry Potter attraction, says Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., an independent industry consultant. He believes the Potter attraction has also taken a considerable bite out of attendance at SeaWorld Orlando, whose image – and attendance – is still recovering from the violent death of a whale trainer in February.
“(Harry Potter) has had an enormous impact, and we believe it has legs,” Speigel says. “I don’t think you’re going to see a 36-percent increase at any theme park for a while. But we believe that Harry Potter has enough story line to carry forward for the next 15 years, if it is properly executed in the parks.”

Moody’s Investors Service said last month that Universal’s boost from the attraction should last several years.

Steve Baker of Baker Leisure Group, a theme-park industry consultant, predicts a two-year benefit for Universal, but Disney’s dominance and skill at keeping visitors on its properties is too hard to crack for Universal to gain any permanent and significant ground on the mighty Mouse.

“I think what’s happened so far is that (Harry Potter) hasn’t brought new business to the market yet, it’s just enjoyed a bigger market share of what exists,” Baker says. “And I think until Disney comes out with something new, that’s probably going to be the case. Harry Potter will be a big influence on the attendance at all the parks for quite a few months. I know Universal is hoping it’s everlasting, but nothing is everlasting.”

For now, though, there’s no mistaking what’s bringing people to the park.

On a late morning in early December, typically a slow period for all the Orlando parks, the wand shop at the Wizarding World wasn’t the only one with a crowd. Wannabe witches and wizards also stood in line to get into the gift shops, belly up for a butter beer and eat at the Three Broomsticks Inn. The hubbub at the Wizarding World didn’t spill over into the other areas of Universal’s two parks, where crowds were sparse and wait times for rides were no more than five or 10 minutes.
Universal spokesman Tom Schroder says the new attraction has “been great for everything we are.”

“The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has helped us reach a new audience, and we’ve used that opportunity very strategically to help people understand everything they can experience when they come here,” Schroder says.

Overall, though, 2011 is expected to be another soft year for the theme park industry with only modest growth, analysts say, with much higher hopes for 2012.

“We’re not a recession-proof industry, but we’re a recession-resilient industry,” Speigel says. “We bounce back faster than a lot of industries. People want to escape, they want to get out, they want to have fun. In 2010 we saw a lot of pent-up demand that had carried over from ’08 and ’09.”

Sincerely,

Bill Cowie

President

www.britishhomesgroup.com

Looking at buying a home in Florida? Use one of our easy contact links below. 

Request more information on this home or submit a  Custom Search Request

From this past Sunday’s New York Times

 
A Street for Adults in Orlando

On International Drive, the refurbished Pointe Orlando mall has a B. B. King’s Blues Club, theater and restaurants.
 
INTERNATIONAL DRIVE in Orlando, Fla., a shaded boulevard lined with inexpensive hotels, theme restaurants and sundry entertainments (most notably, SeaWorld), is already one of many areas in the city dedicated to keeping children happy. But to many adults traveling without kids – certainly a sizable chunk of the millions who attend events at the nearby Orange County Convention Center – the attraction of I-Drive, as it’s known, has been limited to a handful of bewilderingly large shopping malls.
Orlando Travel Guide

These days, a segment of I-Drive close to the convention center is beginning to hold more grown-up appeal, with upscale hotels, restaurants and entertainment that doesn’t involve leaping orcas.

In September, the Peabody Orlando hotel (9801 International Drive; 407-352-4000; peabodyorlando.com), popular with conventioneers since 1986, opened a $450 million wing, adding 750 rooms. The expansion, more than a decade in the making, gives the hotel some resort appeal: additions include a spa with 12 treatment rooms and a watsu pool, a restaurant serving California cuisine, and a three-acre recreation area, complete with a pool, a waterfall and cabanas.

Also nearby is the 1,400-room Hilton Orlando (6001 Destination Parkway; 407-313-4300; thehiltonorlando.com), which opened in late 2009. Amenities include a spa and fitness center, a putting green, tennis courts and a pool complex that features both a meandering 892-foot-long river (can’t forget the kids altogether) and a separate pool with cabanas geared toward adults looking for a little solitude.

Most of the area’s new entertainment options are concentrated in – surprise! – a mall. But the recently overhauled Pointe Orlando (9101 International Drive; 407-248-2838; pointeorlando.com), has a more sophisticated feel than most of its brethren, with some attractions devoted to decidedly adult pursuits.

Travelers see live performances at B. B. King’s Blues Club (407-370-4550; orlando.bbkingclubs.com), watch stand-up comedians at the 21-and-over Orlando Improv Comedy Club & Dinner Theater (407-480-5233; theimprovorlando.com), or take in a play for only $20 at the Pointe Performing Arts Center (407-374-3587; pointearts.org), a small theater run by a production company that set up shop in Orlando this summer after three years in Jersey City, N.J.

Some of the Pointe’s restaurants offer their own entertainment. Dancing on tables is encouraged at the Taverna Opa (407-351-8660; opaorlando.com), where authentic Greek cuisine takes a backseat to a raucous atmosphere of belly dancers and shouting waiters flinging stacks of cocktail napkins. Arrive after 8:30 p.m. on a Friday or Saturday for maximum spectacle.

The Funky Monkey Wine Company (407-418-9463; funkymonkeywine.com), which opened last year, perhaps comes closest to achieving a truly cosmopolitan vibe. The restaurant serves creative sushi appetizers (the stuffed avocado, brimming with cubes of juicy raw tuna, is a must; $13) and Asian-inflected American entrees, and has an estimable wine list. On Friday nights, a talented drag troupe led by Danielle Hunter, a blond transsexual, descends on the restaurant for a scandalous musical show.

It’s an experience that seems far afield from the typical central Florida offerings, and yet, in closing a recent show, a scantily clad Ms. Hunter asked the audience, “Where else can you get this stuff?” Winking, she purred her answer: “Only in Orlando.”

Wow – is Mickey growing up!So why not own your very own place in the sun – at up to 70% off?There’s never been a better time to invest in Florida property – for children of all ages!

But act soon as the best deals will not last long.

One British Homes’ customers, Paula Hughes from Brentwood in Essex, actually flew over to Orlando for 24 hours last month (!) to make sure she got the home of her dreams – at the right price ………………. and she did!

As Paula said after her whirlwind holiday-home buying trip to Orlando:

“The reason I came so quickly was because it was such a good deal, and as I was going away, I was worried if I didn’t come I would lose out and it worked for me, as our house came back on the market that day and it was a nicer house than the one I came to buy. So we are very pleased about that and about the care and service you gave me on my short trip. Nothing was too much trouble and you provided me with all the information we needed to buy here and you have continued that service even after we bought. We thank you very much.”

And thank you, too, Paula – and welcome to our rapidly growing family of happy Florida property investors (now well over 1,000 UK families)!

So why not arrange your own “mini-holiday” to Orlando, like Paula Hughes, while Orlando’s “Buyer’s Market” is in full swing – and we will do the rest.

Your savings will more than pay for the trip – and provide a very pleasant 2-3 day Florida “warm-up” at the same time!
 
Sincerely,

Bill Cowie

President

www.britishhomesgroup.com

Looking at buying a home in Florida? Use one of our easy contact links below. 

Request more information on this home or submit a  Custom Search Request

Today, June 18th 2010, Universal Orlando officially opens the doors for their latest theme park feature – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

This new section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure is all about immersing visitors into the “Harry Potter” universe. All of the landmarks,  characters and strange food items are around in cool shops and park employees are dressed as members of the wizarding community to enhance the effect.

Queues are likely to be long in the summer so watch out for sunburn and dehydration.

Find out more on Universals Orlando’s site:  http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter

Thanks to Patricia Kawaja (www.britishflorida.com) for this bit of news…

You’ve all read about Cunard prestigious new Flagship…THE NEW QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Cunard Line’s gleaming new majesterial liner Queen Elizabeth will be sailing out of FORT LAUDERDALE January 16, 2011 on her First World Cruise to Southampton, England.

This is a 93 day full world cruise but with short segments, like the 13 night cruise from Ft. Lauderdale through the Panama Canal and to Los Angeles are available.  Also available is a Ft. Lauderdale over to Europe [90 days].

So huge already is the worldwide interest from cruisers and media that some cabins already have waiting lists.

Email FABB’s cruise partner JoeEllen Shatz at Cruise One in Miami. jshatz3270@aol.com

If you are in the US you can call Toll free 1-877-277-6414. 

NOTE TO CRUISE NOVICES: You can’t get it cheaper by booking yourself and will waste hours on research and on-hold time.  It’s not like the airlines.  As experienced cruisers know,  due to all the variables involved, using a cruise agent such as Joellen will always be better for the customer.

Happy Cruisin!

Orlando was the most visited US destination with 46 Million+ in 2009

From today’s ORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL

The metro Orlando area welcomed 46.6 million visitors in 2009, making it the most visited U.S. destination of the year, according to a new report by D.K. Shifflet & Associates.

The visitation numbers represent a 4.7 percent decrease as compared with 2008, marking a much stronger performance than the earlier forecast by D.K. Shifflet & Associates of a 9.9 percent decrease in a difficult year for the travel and tourism industry.

Domestic travel represented 93 percent of Orlando’s total visitors in 2009, with 43.3 million visitors. International travel, which includes overseas countries and Canada, totaled nearly 3.3 million.
The top international market for 2009 was Canada with 865,000 visitors.

The second-largest number of international visitors came from the United Kingdom, with 831,000.

D.K. Shifflet & Associates said the United Kingdom still represented 35 percent of all overseas visitors and remained Orlando’s largest overseas origin. Overseas visitors excluding the United Kingdom increased 6.4 percent in 2009.

The overseas travel numbers are provided by the United States Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel & Tourism Industries through in-flight surveys and analysis of customs paperwork provided by travelers.

D.K. Shifflet & Associates Ltd., a travel research firm, specializes in consumer-based travel.
 
 
Looking forward to seeing you again here in The Sunshine State!

Sincerely,

Bill Cowie, President

www.BritishHomesGroup.com

Kissimmee Office: 407 396 9914

Dreamflights Annual Golf charity Tournament is set for April 23rd 2010 with a shotgun start at 8:00am.

Click Image to Visit Dreamflight's WebSite

According to the latest numbers from Visit Florida, the state’s publicly subsidized tourism-advertising agency, an estimated 80.3 million people visited Florida in 2009.

These are initial counts and show a slight drop of just 0.8 percent from 2008.

2010 could be different, but the last two years have remained strong despite the general world-wide economic conditions. Visit Florida reported that visitors are spending less while here but this creates a silver lining for short term rental owners as more visitors opt for rental homes over hotels.

Other Visit Florida statistics;

* 18.1 million people came to the Sunshine State during the fourth quarter of 2009.

* About 20 million visited in the 3rd quarter of 2009

* They (Visit Florida) also began using a new methodology to count visitors and revised its original total for 2008 from 82.5 million visitors to 80.9 million – still just an incredible amount of visitors when you think about it.

If you already own a home here and you are considering short or long term renting the home, or if you are considering buying a home (anywhere in Florida) please use one of our contact options below – The British Homes Group

We are located on the NW Corner of 535 and US highway 192 above the Edwin Watts Golf Shop and across the road from the Publix super market. Please feel free to visit anytime Monday through Friday, 9 – 5pm.

Our local number is: (+1) 407 396 9914

Our Email Address: Info@BritishHomesGroup.com

Quick Contact Request

 http://www.britishhomesgroup.com/contactus.php

Customised Property Search Request

http://www.britishhomesgroup.com/floridaproperty.php

“The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World” will give you a renewed appreciation of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Susan Veness’ new Disney book “The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World” is reviewed by Jim Hill Media, a website that is one of THE most authoritative voices on Disney and all things to do with the House of Mouse anywhere in the world.

It is read by Disney execs and fans alike. It is a glorious, glowing review from one of the most knowledgeable people in the business and it is a superb testament to all Susan’s work on this.

“The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World” will give you a renewed appreciation of the WDW Resort…Jim Hill reviews Susan Veness’ new paperback, which features over 600 seldom-told tales about the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom .

“30 years ago this month, I made my very first trip to Walt Disney World. And for 25 years now, I’ve been writing about Central Florida’s Vacation Kingdom.”

“I offer this info up not because I want to impress JHM readers with my advanced age. But – rather – to give you some idea of how long I’ve actually been studying the history of WDW. The decades that I’ve devoted to talking with the Imagineers who actually designed the Resort’s theme parks and hotels, the many longtime cast members that I’ve quizzed over the years to get a sense of how this place really runs.”

“And over these past three decades, I have literally collected tens of thousands of tales about the Walt Disney World Resort. I mean, I thought that I had heard and read it all. Which is why Susan Veness’ “The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom ” (Adams Media, June 2009) is such a delightful surprise.”

Read the full review…
 
LINK: http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2009/06/10/the-hidden-magic-of-walt-disney-world-allows-you-to-see-the-resort-through-a-new-set-of-eyes.aspx

Susan also helps co-author the very popular ‘A British Guide to Orlando’.

Congratulations Susan!

Despite a year long recession in 2008, more than 48 million people visited Orlando last year to give the area its second-best year on record, according to an official head count released Wednesday.

The visitor total reported by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc. — 48.9 million — was three-tenths of a percent better than the 2007 head count of 48.7 million and the best year since 2005, when a record 49.3 million visitors came to town.

“We knew the first part of ’08 was sensational for us, and we led the U.S. in a lot of different metrics,” said Gary Sain, president and chief executive of the visitors bureau. “And then, of course, the last six months of the year were very challenging.”

The slight increase last year was due to an 18.9 percent jump in international visitors, who constitute a small but lucrative segment of Orlando’s tourism market. The number of U.S. visitors, who constitute about 93 percent of all travelers to Orlando, actually fell last year by nine-tenths of a percent.

Sain attributed the international growth to more targeted marketing in countries such as Brazil and Canada, as well as the addition of international air service by carriers such as Germany’s Lufthansa, Ireland’s Aer Lingus and Brazil’s TAM.

“We’re just making it easier for people to travel to Orlando,” he said.

The number of domestic leisure travelers last year generally held steady when compared with 2007, but the number of domestic business travelers fell 3.2 percent as the recession prompted corporations to trim their travel budgets. Overnight group meetings fell 7.8 percent compared with a year earlier, the visitors bureau said.