{"id":416731,"date":"2026-10-02T13:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T13:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416731\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T13:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T13:08:23","slug":"50-most-powerful-people-of-2026-in-orlando-tourism-transportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/416731\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Most Powerful People of 2026 In Orlando: Tourism & Transportation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Joe<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Joe Schott | President, Walt Disney World Resort<\/p>\n

Keeping Orlando among the world\u2019s premier tourism destinations means giving visitors fresh reasons to return while preserving the experiences generations of families already love, according to Joe Schott.<\/p>\n

As president of Walt Disney World Resort and an Orlando native, Schott is helping lead a period of major investment and expansion. Disney Experiences has announced plans to invest $60 billion in its parks, resorts and cruise business over 10 years, with a significant share of that work taking place in Central Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are building new experiences, investing in what guests already love, and continuing to strengthen the role Walt Disney World plays in Central Florida,\u201d Schott said.<\/p>\n

The investment will bring new attractions, expanded resorts, refreshed classics and entirely new lands. It also will create opportunities for contractors, suppliers, skilled tradespeople and cast members. Disney\u2019s daily operations already support thousands of small businesses, including hundreds based in Central Florida that provide everything from specialty popcorn and prop construction to paintwork on Cinderella Castle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love working alongside them, and it\u2019s an honor to grow together,\u201d Schott said.<\/p>\n

Schott, who began his Disney career in operations, believes hospitality and convenience are as important as new attractions. With families increasingly turning to technology to simplify travel, Disney plans to test a new vacation-planning experience on DisneyWorld.com. The service will allow guests to compare options and rates across multiple dates, helping them spend less time organizing and more time anticipating their trips.<\/p>\n

His greatest inspiration, however, comes from Disney\u2019s cast members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the heart of Walt Disney World,\u201d Schott said.<\/p>\n

Disney continues to expand employee resources, including its Center for Living Well clinics, on-site child care, financial services and discounted food. A third Center for Living Well location is being added, giving more employees convenient access to medical care, prescriptions and eyewear.<\/p>\n

That commitment extends into the community. In 2025, Disney cast members contributed more than 240,000 volunteer hours and supported nearly 1,200 organizations through the Disney VoluntEARS program.<\/p>\n

With an estimated 80 percent of cast members living within 25 miles of Walt Disney World, Schott sees Disney\u2019s workforce as inseparable from the community it serves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about shaping how millions of people experience Central Florida, it starts with the people who call this community home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

$40.3 billion in economic impact across the state and a quarter-of-a-million total jobs. That\u2019s something I am incredibly proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Joe Schott | President, Walt Disney World Resort Keeping Orlando among the world\u2019s premier tourism destinations means…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-416731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416731","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=416731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}