With a planned increase in seat capacity for international travelers coming to Miami and record high hotel occupancy and daily rates in just the first two weeks of this year, the county’s tourism outlook is shining brightly.

For the first two weeks of 2023 combined, occupancy at county hotels is up 8.1% from last year. Similarly, average daily rates rose 4.6%, and visitor volume — defined as demand, or how many people are checking into hotel rooms — is up another 12.1%, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“These first two weeks have traditionally been a shoulder period,” said David Whitaker, bureau president and CEO, referring to the period between peak and off-peak seasons. “So, to have an increase in occupancy, average daily rate and volume is really encouraging. The goal is to continue that growth and success.

The annual occupancy rate for all Miami-Dade hotels in 2022 is 72.1%, up 8% from 2021.

In 2021, which was “a bit of a struggle year, still dealing with the brunt of COVID-19,” Mr. Whittaker said, the county had an annual occupancy of 68.4%. Still, Miami-Dade ranked second in the nation among the top major destinations with more than 20,000 hotel rooms to stay.

“The whole country was dealing with Covid-19,” he said. “Tampa ranked number one at 68.4%, so Florida did fairly well in general because of the early opening, warm weather, and outdoor options that the Northeast and colder climate cities weren’t able to enjoy.”

With respect to the annual average daily rate in 2022, Miami ranked third nationally at $253.11, a 14% increase over 2021, trailing only New York and Hawaii.

“We could fill every hotel room in town if we only charged $50 a night,” Mr. Whittaker said. “So, hotels that do very well find a balance between volume, occupancy and daily rate. Higher revenue per available room (RevPAR) generates more taxes for our destination, for our community and our municipal partners. A hotel The more successful it is, the more employees they can hire and the more they can reinvest in the property.

So marketing the destination to attract high-value customers is important, he said. “They are customers who want to invest in great events. We want to attract a very high income, high experience, high expectation traveler.”

Another barometer of future success is planned seat capacity, the number of seats on upcoming flights. Mr Whitaker said international airlines have negotiated with Miami International Airport to increase seats overall by 21% year-on-year from January to March. The biggest growth market will be the United Kingdom, up 32%; Canada, up 31%; Brazil, up 20%; and Spain, up 11%.

“Airlines are in for one of the best years ever (2022), adding more capacity,” he said.

For the second quarter, that is April to June, planned seat capacity is to increase by 18% overall compared to last year, led by Brazil, adding 38% of capacity, and the UK, adding 11%.

“We knew Brazil had taken a pause because they were particularly affected by COVID-19,” Mr Whittaker said. “We are thrilled to welcome them back and to see these seats [increased], We expect a real increase in visitors from Brazil in the first six months, which is a big time for them to travel.

In addition, 16 new hotels are slated to open across the country in 2022, helping drive today’s tourism. That new properties added 2,964 rooms to the inventory, a 4.7% increase over the previous year. “More rooms opening means more rooms to fill, and more work to do to entice and welcome more visitors, but when 16 new hotels open in one year, it shows you investor confidence ,” Mr. Whitaker said.

Those hotels include The Elser Hotel Miami, which opened in November; Arlo Wynwood, Wynwood’s first hotel, which opened in September; and Luz Coral Gables in Ponce de Leon, which opened in May.

Ten more properties are planned to open this year, adding another 1,676 rooms to the hotel inventory, including the Brooklyn Hotel in Miami Beach planned for January; Evo Miami Hotel, planned for June; and the Nationals Miami South Beach, planned for Sept.

There are also events and festivals that help promote tourism, Mr Whittaker said. More than 30 major festivals, meetings or conferences are scheduled for the first six months of 2023, including the South Beach Jazz Festival from January 5-8; Art Deco Weekend, from January 13-15; Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, February 15-19 – which generated over $1.5 billion in economic impact for the boating industry last year – South Beach Wine & Food Festival, February 23-26; Miami Beach Pride, April 1-16; and many more.

In addition, last week, Terra Group and Turnberry, the two titans jointly developing the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center hotel, announced that Dallas-based general contractor and construction company Balfour Beatty will begin construction by the end of summer. The 17-story, 800-room hotel is under pre-construction and is expected to go to competition in 2025.

“I can’t quantify yet,” said Mr. Whittaker, “how much the hotel is going to affect meetings and conventions at the Miami Beach Convention Center, which recently underwent a $600 million renovation,” but, we actually have dozens And are receiving dozens of new requests for information from meeting planners across the country.There is an incredible surge of interest.

The Convention Center Headquarters Hotel, at 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, will connect directly to the center via an elevated skybridge. It will “serve as the central anchor of the Miami Beach Convention Center district, just steps from the beach, Lincoln Road, New World Center, the Bass Museum and the Fillmore Miami Beach along with hundreds of shops and restaurants,” said a press release from the joint team. released by.

The hotel will include 12 floors of guest rooms, 52 suites with beach views, four floors of meeting space and ballrooms, a resort-style pool deck, a signature restaurant, lobby lounge and bar, and retail space, all designed by architect Designed by Bernardo. Forte-Brescia and his Miami-based firm Arquitectonica.