{"id":276540,"date":"2026-05-19T13:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276540\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T13:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:00:08","slug":"its-all-about-the-beach-as-ipw-2026-kicks-off-in-fort-lauderdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276540\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s All About the Beach as IPW 2026 kicks off in Fort Lauderdale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-208535\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IPW-2026-Opening-Night-TED_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Opening day at IPW 2026 this week gave host city Fort Lauderdale, FL the opportunity to showcase its most iconic attraction \u2013 its broad, soft white beach, facing the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>IPW \u2013 America\u2019s largest international tourism marketplace \u2013 kicked off with a welcome celebration that started in the late afternoon under warm, sultry South Florida skies.<\/p>\n<p>It invited thousands of delegates to stroll between open-air pavilions to take in musical performances and dance, while snacking on trays of finger foods. The pavilions were linked by walkways that terminated at the broad beach, where delegates were tempted to kick off their footwear and experience the oceanfront sand.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-208536\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IPW-2026-Fred-Dixon-Brand-USA-TED_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the day, hundreds of international media assembled at The Fort open air sports complex for a brunch, before leaving on tours that explored the city\u2019s many attractions.<\/p>\n<p>But before then, Brand USA president and CEO Fred Dixon took the stage at the media brunch and announced expansions to the organization\u2019s America the Beautiful brand platform.<\/p>\n<p>One of those is the \u201cGet Facts. Get Going\u201d initiative, which has been designed to provide real-time information on visa and entry policies, fees, and more to combat misperceptions.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-208537\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IPW-2026-Beachfront-Perspective-Duo-TED_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet Facts. Get Going\u00a0serves as a single source of information to address misperceptions head-on,\u201d said Dixon. \u201cWe want international visitors to know that we are open for business and warmly welcome them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brand USA says misperceptions about visa requirements, entry procedures, fees such as visa integrity and national park pricing, and screening policies have created confusion among some international travellers. Until now, no single easy-to-use resource has brought this information together in one place, says the organization.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-208538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IPW-2026-Stacy-Ritter-Lauderdale-TED_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>With the by-line \u201cTravel with Confidence to the USA\u201d, the initiative addresses a range of misperceptions circulating on social media and in international markets, including outdated or incomplete information, says Brand USA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn each case, the facts tell a far more welcoming story than what travellers are hearing,\u201d said Dixon. Brand USA is publishing a full set of facts at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/visittheusa.com\/entry\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">visittheusa.com\/entry<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-208539\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IPW-2026-Dance-Partners-Quartet-TED_1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>IPW 2026 continues until May 22 at the Broward County Convention Center. It is being attended by up to 6,000 American tourism product suppliers, plus tourism buyers from around the world and international media members.<\/p>\n<p>In the Photos<\/p>\n<p>Enjoying the Fort Lauderdale beach at the IPW opening night party.<\/p>\n<p>Brand USA president and CEO Fred Dixon addresses the media during day one of IPW.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoying a beachfront perspective during the IPW welcome party event.<\/p>\n<p>Stacy Ritter, president\/CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale convention and visitors bureau took the stage at the IPW media brunch.<\/p>\n<p>Dance partiers meet during the IPW first night event in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opening day at IPW 2026 this week gave host city Fort Lauderdale, FL the opportunity to showcase its&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250,118075],"class_list":["post-276540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-ipw-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}