Around Town – May/June 2011

(Editor’s Note: Here’s a collection of newsworthy items from our industry members and the South Florida community. HSMAInsider, Julie Wernick)

Southeast Florida:

Congrats to Anna Russo, Director of Sales and Marketing, Ocean Sky Resort, on achieving a “Competent Communicator Award” from Toastmasters International.

Congrats to ME Productions. For the seventh consecutive year, ME Productions has been recognized by Special Events Magazine as one of the nation's top Destination Management Companies.

“Vacation Like a VIP” package is being offered June 1 through October 15 with a two night minimum stay. Spearheaded by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the program offers guests staying at one of the upscale hotel properties within the Lauderdale Luxe Collection a room upgrade, complimentary valet parking, $25 American Express gift card and $100 resort credit. In addition, guests receive a Super Summer Savings 2-for-1 card valued at $200 with options including water sports, nature activities, boating, local museums, golf/spa treatments.

June is “Learn to Dive Month” in Greater Fort Lauderdale. The program features online training and certification through local dive operators/shops. Participants can go from training to graduation to their dive vacation in a few simple steps: Begin the pre-certification process online before leaving home; Conduct an open-water dive; Stay a minimum of three days in Greater Fort Lauderdale to complete the certification process (a minimum of four days required for those who fly); Take advantage of special hotel rates and a free fourth night when staying a minimum of three nights at a participating hotel; Enjoy a free congratulatory graduation dive. Bookings can be made through the GFLCVB’s website sunny.org

The Ocean Sky Resort on Galt Ocean Mile in Fort Lauderdale is offering a “Summer Suite Sizzle Sale”. With advanced reservations, the offer includes a $50.00 gas credit, free overnight parking, and two Tiki Bar welcome cocktails. A minimum two night stay is required. Just valet park at the hotel and present a gas receipt before departure to receive up to $50 gas credit to your bill redeemed at check-out time. The offer is based upon availability, and cannot be combined with any other promotions, discounts or negotiated rates.

Port Everglades recorded an 18.4% increase in multiday cruise activity for the first six months of its fiscal year. 2.5 million cruise passengers embarked and debarked through the port for the period ending March 31, up from 2.1 million passengers the prior year (not including one-day cruises). The increase was driven by the addition in late 2010 of Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas.

Passenger numbers to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl Airport were up in April. Total passengers rose 9.3 percent to 2.15 million from April 2010’s 1.97 million. International passengers rose to 341,064 from 313,507. Domestic travelers saw the largest jump in April up 9.4 percent (over last year) to 1.81 million from 1.66 million.

Beginning Thursday, June 16, 2011, Gulfstream Park and The Village at Gulfstream Park will be the home to the official ‘Racer’s Village’ during the 4th Annual Offshore Powerboat Challenge Weekend. This four-day event will consist of several activities including the Miami-Bimini Ocean Challenge, the Florida Powerboat Club 20-year anniversary run and the Offshore Performance Association (OPA) season opener. All off-water events and festivities will take place at The Village of Gulfstream Park. The Racer’s Village will be open to the public on Friday, June 17th and Saturday, June 18th from 10:00 am – 11:00 pm and on Sunday, June 19th from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Gray Line Miami in conjunction with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau has introduced five double-decker tour buses. The buses will run two loops, covering both the beach and the city. Also, Gray Line Miami will operate a hop-on/hop-off tour, which enables passengers to spend time at attractions and then re-board at any of the 20 stops where buses arrive on 15 minute intervals. The hop-on, hop-off tour will make stops in Miami, South Beach, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables and Little Havana.
Congrats to the Ritz Carlton-Key Biscayne on celebrating its 10th Anniversary. In honor of this milestone, the Ritz is holding a contest for 10 lucky winners to win hotel stays for only $10.

The Royal Palm Hotel at 1545 Collins Avenue has been bought by KSLA Capital Partners. It will be managed by New York-based Deniham Hospitality Group. The 407-room property will be rebranded as the James Royal Palm.

A joint venture between Weston-based InSite Group and London-based Cube Capital bought the Continental Oceanfront Hotel in South Beach. The buyers plan to do an extensive renovation and repositioning of the 251-room hotel. It will be re-launched in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Miami International Airport set a record for the first quarter of 2011. More than 9.3 million passengers passed through MIA from January through March. That’s up 6.1 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

According to Smith Travel Research, South Florida hotels in April had their best gains so far this year with their average hotel occupancy up 11.6 percent to 76.8 percent (from 68.8 percent in April 2010. Average daily rates rose 10.2 percent to $149.20 (from $135.42). West Palm Beach area hotels experienced the highest year-over-year occupancy growth, rising to 74.2 percent. With Miami-Dade having the largest year-over-year gain in average daily rate: up 13.1 percent, to $170.73 from $150.97. Hotel occupancies in the Fort Lauderdale market increased 12.2 percent to 76.4 percent (from 68.1 percent in April 2010); with average daily rates up 8.6 percent to $122.87 from $113.12.

Southwest Florida:

Southwest Florida International Airport reported an increase of 7.7 percent compared to March of 2010. The CVB also just received the Collier County visitation report for April. Visitation was up 3.7 percent over April 2010. Throughout April, 907,686 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport, an increase of 11.6 percent compared to April 2010. This is the second largest monthly passenger count for April in the airport's history. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 6.1 percent from the same period last year.

Nonstop service from Aalborg (AAL), Denmark to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) will begin on June 21, 2011 and will run for five weeks through July 19, 2011. The flights will be operated once a week on Tuesday by the Scandinavian tour operator, Comefly, between Fort Myers and Aalborg. This will be the first time RSW has offered nonstop service to Scandinavia and will be the only nonstop flight between Aalborg and the United States.

Congrats to Robert M. Ball, executive director of the Lee County Port Authority, who was named the 2011 Airport Professional of the Year by the Southeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives at the SEC-AAAE Annual Conference in Mobile, Ala.

Congrats to the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa. They recently earned the AAA Four Diamond Lodging designation for the eighth consecutive year.

Statewide:
U.S/Worldwide:

HSMAI’s upcoming Revenue Optimization Conference (ROC) that will take place on June 20 in Austin, Texas. The one-day interactive conference features industry thought leaders and topics within various revenue management sectors. It is organized by HSMAI’s Revenue Management Advisory Board and will allow attendees to take away strategies and practical applications to address the latest industry trends and best practices for their own companies.

At ROC, HSMAI also will present its award for Revenue Management Professional of the Year, which recognizes excellence among hospitality professionals in revenue management. Recent past winners of the Revenue Management Professional of the Year include: Imtiaz Ali (2010, Morgans Hotel Group); Beverly Fidel (2009, Outrigger Hotels Hawaii) and Angie Belknap (2008, Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino).

ROC will be followed this year by a one-day Certified Revenue Management Executive (CRME) Prep Course on June 21, which is designed to prepare revenue management professionals for the CRME certification exam. Details on the CRME Prep Course are available online.

The U.S, Commerce Department reported 60 million visitors to the U.S. last year, an increase of 8.7% over 2009 and a new record. Arrivals from overseas (countries other than Canada and Mexico) also set a record, rising 11% to 26.4 million and finally eclipsing the pre-9/11 peak reported in 2000. Foreign visitor spending was also on the rebound in 2010, rising 12% to $134 billion, generating a $31.2 billion travel-related trade surplus.

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To submit items for future blog editions, please send to jwfranklin1@gmail.com
Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider