Visit Orlando Announces First-of-its-kind Partnership with U.S. Tennis Association

NEW YORK, June 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Visit Orlando, the official tourism association for the most visited destination in the United States, teamed up with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) on June 13 to announce a major new partnership between the two global brands.

Visit Orlando has been named the exclusive global tourism partner of the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world that's broadcast extensively in 185 countries. In addition to receiving on-court exposure at the US Open, Visit Orlando will also be able to engage with the more than 700,000 consumers attending the storied national tennis championships. Plus, Visit Orlando will benefit from partnership extensions on a variety of platforms, including sponsorship of Arthur Ashe Kids' Day – the largest promotional event in tennis, with more than 35,000 attendees – and year-round marketing programs that reach the 750,000 members of the USTA.

"Becoming the exclusive tourism partner of the US Open provides a unique forum for Visit Orlando to reach a global audience of potential travelers in all of our key markets," said Visit Orlando President and CEO George Aguel. "By working closely with the USTA through our US Open partnership, as well as leveraging the USTA's future presence in Orlando, we plan to attract incremental visitation to our destination through the penetration of key audience segments."

"We are pleased to establish this new relationship with Visit Orlando," said USTA Executive Director and COO Gordon Smith. "By creating a new home for American tennis in Orlando, it is important to form a long-standing partnership with Visit Orlando to ensure we create the greatest visibility for our sport, our facility and our new partner."

The agreement also creates further reach for tourism through the decision by VISIT FLORIDA, the state's official tourism marketing corporation, to partner with Visit Orlando and the USTA on marketing programs aimed at uplifting the entire state's exposure in the domestic and international marketplace. VISIT FLORIDA will also be the exclusive Tourism category sponsor of the Western & Southern Open, the major tournament of the Emirates Airline US Open Series that takes place in August.

Visit Orlando's partnership with the USTA complements the sport's national governing body's recent announcement that it will build a state-of-the-art tennis facility in Orlando and provides a platform to reach new visitors that may not have considered Orlando in the past.

Last month, USTA announced it plans to build a model tennis facility in the Lake Nona area of Orlando, creating an unparalleled playing, training and educational experience for players, coaches and spectators. The innovative new facility will feature 100-plus courts (a mix of hard and clay) and will house the USTA's Community Tennis and Player Development divisions. The target completion date for the facility is the fourth quarter of 2016.

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SOURCE Visit Orlando