For most of Orlando’s history, its economy was based on tourism. The Metro Orlando area sees an estimated 52 million tourists a year and is one of the busiest American cities for conferences and conventions with the Orange County Convention Center.

While tourism continues to be the principal industry in Orlando, the city has made efforts to diversify and expand its economy enormously. Orlando is making a deliberate push to grow its high-tech sectors, as well as engineering and simulation. Orlando’s other growing industry sectors include aviation and aerospace, film and television production, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

Indeed, Orlando has received notice in the business community. A survey by Moody's Economy.com ranks Orlando among the top 10 US cities in which to do business out of 379 U.S. metropolitan areas, taking into consideration the overall economic vitality of a metro area, current economic conditions, prospective economic conditions (including the cost of doing business, the cost of living, housing affordability and educational attainment) and economic risk. Metro Orlando also ranks fifth among Milken Institute’s "Best Performing Cities," largely due to the strength of its burgeoning technology sector. And Orlando has been ranked the number one spot for entrepreneurs in the country by Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as the number one hottest job market by Business 2.0.

This is just a sample of what you'll find in the complete Orlando guide.