|
|
| Hello everyone, Many on our team have just returned from Orlando and the US Travel Association’s IPW – our nation’s largest international inbound tourism trade show. It was a busy week indeed as our international sales team (Gisela Marti, Joe Docal and Debra Lee, as well as John Copeland, Dan Rios and Petra Brennan, representing Cultural Tourism, LGBTQ+ Marketing and Multicultural Tourism and Development, respectively) conducted 210 sit-down appointments with tour and travel buyers/planners/operators from 35 countries, including of course our largest feeder markets. Joining us in our Greater Miami & Miami Beach pavilion were 12 partners who collaborated with us on their own book of similar pre-scheduled appointments with hundreds of operators, all discussing and negotiating travel programs and itineraries. There were as well representatives at IPW from our largest hotel, airline and cruise line brands, all helping promote the destination during three non-stop days of appointments and networking. |
|
While there remains encouraging optimism and momentum to re-establish and grow again our international tour and travel ecosystem, the feedback humbly reminds us of headwinds that remain, including pricing for hotel blocks in this traditional group business, high travel costs, and long delays in visa processing. At the end of the day, it will be Greater Miami & Miami Beach’s brand and value proposition, and the experiences delivered and customer service all of our partners provide (and quite frankly need to excel at), that will fuel our position as one of, if not the most, desired international travel destinations. And this week was a big step in the right direction. A special thanks again to Team GM&MB: Dolphin Mall, EB Hotel Miami, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Grand Beach Hotel Group, The Sagamore and Yve Hotel, Marseilles Oceanfront Hotel South Beach, Miami Marlins, Nobu Hotel/Eden Roc, South Beach Group Hotels, Sunny Isles Beach Miami, Trump Sunny Isles, Victor Hotels Miami Beach, Concorde Hospitality and Zoo Miami Another key element of IPW is the corresponding international media marketplace. With hundreds of press in attendance, each destination is allowed to schedule 40 sit-down appointments. This allowed our media relations team (Suzie Sponder, Melina Martinez-Echeverria and Jennifer Haz) to engage with and update travel writers, journalists and specialty publications/platforms from around the world. Many meetings resulted in preliminary plans for destination tours, and of course our ongoing pitches highlighting our plethora of initiatives, programs and themes. A highlight of the week clearly was the opportunity to host our own press conference (over 400 media in attendance) as we used IPW’s international stage to announce and celebrate the MICHELIN Guide’s arrival in Florida, including 11 of the 15 new MICHELIN Star restaurant honorees from Greater Miami & Miami Beach. The week ended just yesterday evening in Orlando with a celebration at the Ritz Carlton with chefs/owners from all three partner cities featured in the first guide (and a collaborative thanks to Visit Florida and our colleagues representing Orlando and Tampa). There has been and will be tons of buzz about this MICHELIN coup nabbed by the teams. I want to take this opportunity to thank Visit Florida President and CEO Dana Young, and our very own Chief Operating Officer, Rolando Aedo, whose vision, negotiations and collaboration lead us to this moment today. So, all in all - a great week for Greater Miami & Miami Beach on the global stage that is IPW and the vitally important impact international visitors have on our overall economy and image. |
|
David Whitaker, President & CEO |
|
