January 19, 2011 HSMAI-South Florida Meeting Recap

“Table of Eight” – Our occasional column with comments about Chapter events.

What a nice turn out for the Chapter’s luncheon meeting at the Renaissance Resort in Fort Lauderdale for a presentation on Tourism by Alfredo Gonzalez, Vice President of Tourism and International Business, and Fernando Harb, Director of Sales, with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. This program has become an almost annual event for the Chapter. It’s always educational and enjoyable and looked forward to eagerly by the hospitality community. We were not disappointed.

More on the presentation later…

Do mark your calendars for these upcoming dates:
On January 27th, at 10 am, there will be a GFLCVB hosted industry preview of the Vatican Splendors exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. On February 8th, at 11:30 am, as part of International’s HSMAI Leadership Meetings, there will be a luncheon at the PGA Resort in Palm Beach. South Florida is the host chapter. Transportation will be provided from a central location (to be announced).The program is by Vail Brown with Smith Travel Research.
On February 16th, from 5-7 pm will be the Chapter’s first “Networker” (business after hours meeting) of the year at the Grateful Palate Restaurant on SE 17th Street, Fort Lauderdale. Cost is only $10. Check the Chapter’s website (hsmaisouthflorida.org) for registration information for all these events and more details.

In self-introductions, we learned that Ellen Serra is now serving as Director of Sales & Marketing, for the Holiday Inn Express-Convention Center (on SE 17th Street), in addition to the Comfort Suites-Airport & Cruiseport; Lori Jacoby, formerly with Florida Trend Magazine, and now with Ambit will soon be taking on a new job (details to come); Haydee Casanova is now working for Worldwide Limousine (lucky Julio!); The Riverside Hotel is celebrating its 75th year of operation – a legend in Fort Lauderdale. Robin Melvin announced that the Hard Rock Hotel is celebrating 40 years of Rock ‘n Roll and will be doing a number of related promotions. The Atlantic Resort (home of one of my faves, Trina) was voted one of the top 50 resorts in the U.S. Sorry if I missed your info, was jotting notes as fast as I could!

As always, there will be different things that people will remember from a presentation that may apply to their specific hotel/company. But here are a few key points from my notes. (BTW, the presentation will be posted on the Chapter’s website in the near future.)

Alfredo provided a recap on international tourism. He noted the effects of the recession in 2009 and the global recovery in 2010. Other parts of the world recovered stronger than the US (except for Ireland and Greece). We were shown U.S. arrivals in 2010 and forecasts through 2015 where arrivals will be double that of the great years of 2007/2008. Importantly, international tourists stay longer and spend more money than others. A number of the top international news stories were reviewed v.v. their impacts on international tourism.

Fernando provided a recap on domestic tourism. He noted the tough years of 2008/2009 with the biggest drop in these types of arrivals. Broward County was still relatively strong but average hotel rates were quite low. He reviewed the top domestic stories affecting travel. In 2010, however, there was a positive increase in domestic arrivals in every single month of the year. Overall, the average, statewide, was a 5% increase for 2010; and average room rates began to climb slowly. It was noted that drive traffic into Florida went up, even though overall visitor numbers to Florida declined. More families “hit the road”. The positive effects of the arrival of mega ships in Port Everglades, saw the cruise market sparking increased pre/post stays. In fact, 38% of the increases in hotel bookings were due to the (new) cruise lines.

Two new buzz words describing upcoming trends are: “engagementcations” – which is where engagement parties are taken on the road. Three of the top ten destinations for these trips are in South Florida (West Palm, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami); and “bleisure” travel – bringing one’s spouse along with you on a business trip. Again, South Florida is one of the top destinations.

Alfredo reviewed aviation developments. He noted that FLL airport is one of the fastest growing airports, both domestically and internationally. The busiest air corridor is the NY to FLL one, based on numbers of flights. Canadian travel here is up 30%. There are many new domestic flights as well as new international flights. He cited a number of the new connections and new carriers. Low fare carriers, combined, make up over 50% of the air traffic at FLL. The new Terminal 4 and South Runway project (currently under design) will mean a large increase in gates and service by around 2014.

Thank you, Alfredo and Fernando, for your time and expertise and for providing a wealth of useful information!

Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider

PS Just a reminder to send in your industry news/updates for the “Around Town” column for the HSMAI-South Florida chapter’s blog, “Scoop”, to jwfranklin1@gmail.com.