And of course, there’s not a better opportunity to give thanks for so much that we can be appreciative of and grateful for. While we remain thankful that our destination and many of our partners enjoyed the strong rebound, we experienced last year, it’s even more encouraging that year-to-date (January through October) Greater Miami & Miami Beach continue to build upon this momentum. Now with 10 full months in the books, overall hotel occupancy increased 10% over last year’s comparable level at this point – this accomplished with 3.3% more hotel inventory added (13 new hotels have opened in the past 10 months).

More telling, the average daily rate in Miami and Miami Beach hotels fueled by this growth is up 18.8% over last year’s record level at this time (and an impressive 31% over the same period in 2019 – our pre-pandemic benchmark). This translates into more revenue, more consumer sales tax generated for our community and more jobs supported. None of this happens without our partners and all of us focused on fueling growth in our visitor, tourism and events industry.

Let me take this opportunity to again thank our almost 1,000 association members, especially the 173 new partners who joined the GMCVB in our recently concluded fiscal year. Altogether, our partners generated $1.4 million in member revenue.  Additional ad revenues from our members support our publications and our digital platforms. Our largest partnership with members is based on our collaboration with the Greater Miami and The Beaches Hotel Association and our hotel leaders and teams. Thank you, members!

Incredible thanks and acknowledgement for our interlocal government, county and municipal partners and their mayors, commissioners and staff whose leadership, policy and investment help shape our programming and infrastructure and the experiences our visitors and delegates enjoy.

And indeed, a great place to live, work and play is the foundation for a great place to visit.  While all our cities, villages, neighborhoods, chambers of commerce and districts contribute greatly, I would be remiss if I did not take this moment to thank and celebrate the direct funding that first is appropriated in Tallahassee (and again a special thanks to the great leadership of our Miami-Dade Delegation and State Senate and House leadership).  This funding is then afforded to us and our industry by our direct agreements with Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach. We are both benefactors and partners in these strategically important relationships.  This is supplemented by co-op funding and partnerships with Miami’s Downtown Development Authority, the Village of Bal Harbour and the Sunny Isles Beach Tourism and Marketing Council.  And speaking of Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach, we are incredibly grateful for the vitally important collaboration and service provided by Miami International Airport, PortMiami and the Miami Beach Convention Center. We could not do what we do without them.

In conclusion, Thanksgiving reflects our sincere appreciation but more importantly, vividly reminds us that we are all in this together. And together – thank you.

David Whitaker, President & CEO
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau