(Editor’s Note: Here’s another collection of newsworthy items from our industry members and the South Florida community. HSMAInsider, Julie Wernick)
Southeast Florida:
Congratulations to Alice Land who started her new position with Marriott on August 8th. Alice was previously the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Mayfair Resort and a past Board member of our South Florida HSMAI chapter.
Congratulations to Anna Russo, Director of Sales & Marketing at the Ocean Sky Hotel & Resort (Fort Lauderdale) on attaining her CHSE designation!
The Bahia Beach Hotel at 3030 Harbor Drive in Fort Lauderdale has new owners. It was sold in July to a Miami company.
Greater Fort Lauderdale will host the 2011 Superior Small Lodging Annual Conference, at the Broward County Convention Center, Sept 27-28. Superior Small Lodging members from the around the state will gather to share ideas and plan for the year ahead.
The fourth annual Lauderdale Spa Chic runs from September 1-30. Enjoy spa treatments for $99 (up to 50% savings) and Spa Chic Stays, including spa treatments and overnight accommodations, starting at $239 at one of 14 participating spas (many at top hotels in Broward). For details and info on the CVB’s Spa Chic contest visit www.sunny.org/spachic.
According to Smith Travel Research reports, South Florida hotel occupancies and room rates rose in June. The region’s hotel occupancy climbed to 65.7 percent from 61.7 percent in June 2010. The average daily room rate rose 5.1 percent, to $108.67 from $103.41.
The number of passengers at South Florida airports rose in June. Total passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport increased 8.6 percent, year-over-year. The number of domestic travelers rose to 1.6 million (vs. 1.47 million). International passengers also went up 8.6 percent (273,788 vs. 252,146).
In July, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport had its 23rd month of passenger growth in July 2011. Total passengers climbed 4.4 percent, year-over-year, to 2 million from July 2010’s 1.95 million. The number of international passengers rose to 339,332 from 335,031. And Domestic travelers increased 5.1 percent, to 1.7 million from 1.6 million.
Miami International Airport saw similar passenger increases, rising 7.7 percent, year-over-year (3.2 million vs. 2.98 million). Domestic travelers in June rose to 1.68 million (vs.1.57 million in June 2010). International passengers were up to 1.53 million (vs.1.4 million).
Miami Beach’s The Raleigh Hotel successfully hosted the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim event in July where more than 12,000 people attended the five-day 2012 swimwear preview. The event showcased 24 designers under tents around the hotel's pool. Speaking of The Raleigh, the 70 year old hotel will be renovated again (last time was in 2004). The hotel will remain open during its makeover/enhancement which should be completed by December.
The Fontainebleau Resort (Miami Beach) is offering a special Florida Resident promotion through September 30th, with rates from $249 including complimentary valet parking - Fourth night free - A Little Bleau Book at check-in - kids eat free for 3 meals a day. Some restrictions apply. Promotional rate is based on double occupancy in Standard room category for Sunday - Wednesday nights only. Blackout dates apply.
Sorry to hear that The Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau and the Beaches Turks & Caicos remain closed due to Hurricane Irene. The good news? The Sandals resort will reopen Sept. 28, and the Beaches property will reopen Oct. 6.
All three of the South Florida’s major airports made Cheapflights.com's list of 101 most affordable airports, which ranked airports by average airfare:
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport ranked fourth (the highest in Florida) with an average airfare of $328, followed by Palm Beach International Airport at No. 11 with an average airfare of $346. Miami International Airport ranked in the bottom tier, at No. 85 with an average airfare of $534. (No. 22 was Southwest Florida International Airport).
Southwest Florida:
Congrats to Jack Wert, Executive Director for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, on his appointment to the VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors as a representative of the Southwest Florida tourism industry. He was also reappointed to the International Committee.
Congrats to U, PR & Communications Manager, Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, who has been reappointed to the VISIT FLORIDA Communications Committee.
The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club has received Meetings Focus South magazine's "Best of the South" award, which is given annually to the finest meeting properties in the South, as selected by the magazine's readers.
Marco Beach Ocean Resort has received the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, which honors top-rated lodging businesses, restaurants and attractions, as reviewed by travelers on the world's largest travel site.
The Naples Park Central Hotel, formerly the Sea Court Hotel, reopened with a complete interior and exterior remodel. The Park Central was taken over by new owners and management to give Naples a new and contemporary lodging property.
Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort has launched a “Give & Get”, a volun-tourism program to reward travelers who give back to the community. Guests who spend part of their vacation helping others will receive a 15 percent savings on their stay through Sept. 30. Volunteer opportunities range from renovating a butterfly garden with Friends of Rookery Bay, building homes with Habitat for Humanity or helping out at Marco Island's first local high school. If resort visitors post photos or videos of their experience on the resort's Facebook page, they receive a $25 resort credit for a return trip.
The fourth annual Islands FallFest from September through November 2011 combines annual events and festivals with special hotel rates and value-added deals for visitors to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel.
Research Data Services showed that visitor numbers for June 2011 increased nearly 10% over June 2010, according to the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB reports.
During June 2011, 473,332 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), a decrease of 0.7 percent compared to June 2010. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 5.4 percent from the same period last year.
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To submit items for future blog editions, please send to jwfranklin1@gmail.com
Best, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider
Showing posts with label Southwest Florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southwest Florida. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Around Town – December 2010
(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 Cindy Malin who was named as Head of Business Development at ME Productions. She will be promoting ME Productions as South Florida's premier event production and destination management company. Cindy previously held positions of
Communications Manager and Marketing Consultant for the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Communications Manager at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau; and assisted SportsMark in providing destination management services to the U.S. Olympics' "Dream Team" and Americans attending the games.
The Miami Beach Convention Center was ranked first on the South Florida Business Journal's list of largest convention and meeting sites, as published Oct. 8th. The Miami Beach Convention Center was first on the list based on its 627,000 square feet of total meeting space. Also in the top 5 are: Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center; Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood; Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center; The Doubletree Hotel; and the Miami Airport Convention Center. The complete list included 25 convention and meeting sites with contact information.
The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau said 10,000 attendees were at the Jewelers International Showcase, which took place at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Oct. 8-11. The event had an estimated $595,700 economic impact.
BizBash reported that the University of Miami celebrated the grand opening of the Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center in Coral Gables. The 72,000-square-foot building, which houses the university's alumni relations department, can be booked for private events by alumni and non-alums alike. There are six spaces suited for meetings, cocktail parties, dinners, and other special events for groups of 35 to 500.
NCL’s Norwegian Sun, which was based in Miami was moved (in October) to Port Canaveral. NCL had based its biggest ship, the Epic, in Miami this past summer. In fact, the arrival of the Epic helped the Port of Miami breaks its own record for cruise traffic in a fiscal year. The port processed 4,145,053 passengers in the year ended Sept. 30, up from 4,110,100 for the prior year – an increase of 34,953. The July-September quarter was up 10 percent, which coincided with the arrival of the Epic.
After six years at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Wannado City announced it would be closing in the near future.
According to officials at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport: FLL will have 7.7 percent more seating capacity during the first quarter of the 2011. FLL will then be the fastest-growing airport in Florida, and the fourth-fastest-growing airport in the U.S. for capacity. Capacity will begin ramping up in the fall to correspond with the high travel season. There will be an additional 6,200 roundtrip seats a day in January, 2011.
In other FLL airport news/statistics: The airport handled 10.3 percent more passengers in September than it did during the same month last year. FLL grew total passengers to 1.44 million from 1.31 million last year.
From January through September, the airport handled 5.1 percent more passengers than during the same time last year. The rise in September marks 13 straight months of passenger growth, which started in September 2009 after 14 straight months of losses that began in July 2008. Overall, the number of international passengers has grown at a faster percentage rate than domestic passengers this year.
October marked the second month in a row that FLL Airport had double-digit percentage passenger growth. The airport added 164,000 passengers in October, growing 10.7 percent over October 2009, according to airport data. That was the largest percentage gain so far this year, exceeding September’s growth.
In other airline news, American Eagle added two daily non-stops from MIA to Cleveland in November and Delta announced it would begin MIA – Jacksonville service in March 2011.
According to STR (formerly Smith Travel Research): Occupancy and rates grew at local hotels in September, compared to the prior year period. Miami Dade: 59.3 % (up from 52.9); Broward 53.6% (up from 49.5%); Palm Beach 46.4% (up from 44.3%). Occupancy across the U.S. grew to 59.9 %.
Occupancy and rates grew October: Occupancy in Broward County grew to 66.5 % from 60.6 percent in the prior-year period. Occupancy in Miami-Dade grew to 68.2 % from 62.3 %. In Palm Beach County, it grew to 55.1 % from 50.7 %.
Southwest Florida:
According to the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, lingering misperceptions about the Gulf Coast oil spill continued to cause some risk aversion impacts to visitation to Collier County, according to the September visitation report from Research Data Services. Visitation for September 2010 was down 1.0 percent from September 2009. On the positive side, the economic impact from visitors for the month increased by 1.2 percent to $37,743,323.
Congrats to the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club who received a prestigious honor as it was presented with "The Green to Gold Award" by the Economic Development Council (EDC) of Collier County, Florida, for "best exemplifying green leadership." The award was presented to the Southwest Florida resort during the EDC's "27th Annual Excellence in Industry Awards."
Three Paradise Coast resorts appeared in the Conde Nast Traveler 2010 Readers Choice Top 100 List for Mainland U.S. Large Resorts. The Ritz-Carlton, Naples beach resort is number 14; The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples is number 18; and the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa is number 70 on the list. The designation is reached by surveying readers of Conde Nast Traveler.
The Hawthorn Suites of Naples was honored as the Hotel of the Year for 2010 by the Wyndham Hotel Group. The boutique all suites hotel was honored with the award during a dinner at the Wyndham Hotel Group's global conference in Las Vegas.
The Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) was recently recognized by Airline and Airport News & Analysis with a U.S. Annie Prize 2010 for the "Fastest Growing Airport in the 5 to 10 Million Passenger" category.
The Naples Botanical Garden opened its new cultivated gardens of Asia and Florida and a new water garden on Nov. 13. This marked the final stage of the major redevelopment of Naples Botanical Garden as a new area attraction.
Naples Bay Resort, a Four Diamond property on Florida's Paradise Coast, has announced a special winter spa package ideal for couples looking to refresh, renew and relax. Named Blissful Intervention, included is pampering at Naples Bay Resort's Spa, lounging at the resort's pool complex in a private cabana, lunch poolside, and guest accommodations.
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To submit items for future editions, send to jwfranklin1@gmail.comBest, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider
Southeast Florida:
Congrats to Cindy Malin who was named as Head of Business Development at ME Productions. She will be promoting ME Productions as South Florida's premier event production and destination management company. Cindy previously held positions of
Communications Manager and Marketing Consultant for the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Communications Manager at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau; and assisted SportsMark in providing destination management services to the U.S. Olympics' "Dream Team" and Americans attending the games.
The Miami Beach Convention Center was ranked first on the South Florida Business Journal's list of largest convention and meeting sites, as published Oct. 8th. The Miami Beach Convention Center was first on the list based on its 627,000 square feet of total meeting space. Also in the top 5 are: Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center; Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood; Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center; The Doubletree Hotel; and the Miami Airport Convention Center. The complete list included 25 convention and meeting sites with contact information.
The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau said 10,000 attendees were at the Jewelers International Showcase, which took place at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Oct. 8-11. The event had an estimated $595,700 economic impact.
BizBash reported that the University of Miami celebrated the grand opening of the Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center in Coral Gables. The 72,000-square-foot building, which houses the university's alumni relations department, can be booked for private events by alumni and non-alums alike. There are six spaces suited for meetings, cocktail parties, dinners, and other special events for groups of 35 to 500.
NCL’s Norwegian Sun, which was based in Miami was moved (in October) to Port Canaveral. NCL had based its biggest ship, the Epic, in Miami this past summer. In fact, the arrival of the Epic helped the Port of Miami breaks its own record for cruise traffic in a fiscal year. The port processed 4,145,053 passengers in the year ended Sept. 30, up from 4,110,100 for the prior year – an increase of 34,953. The July-September quarter was up 10 percent, which coincided with the arrival of the Epic.
After six years at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Wannado City announced it would be closing in the near future.
According to officials at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport: FLL will have 7.7 percent more seating capacity during the first quarter of the 2011. FLL will then be the fastest-growing airport in Florida, and the fourth-fastest-growing airport in the U.S. for capacity. Capacity will begin ramping up in the fall to correspond with the high travel season. There will be an additional 6,200 roundtrip seats a day in January, 2011.
In other FLL airport news/statistics: The airport handled 10.3 percent more passengers in September than it did during the same month last year. FLL grew total passengers to 1.44 million from 1.31 million last year.
From January through September, the airport handled 5.1 percent more passengers than during the same time last year. The rise in September marks 13 straight months of passenger growth, which started in September 2009 after 14 straight months of losses that began in July 2008. Overall, the number of international passengers has grown at a faster percentage rate than domestic passengers this year.
October marked the second month in a row that FLL Airport had double-digit percentage passenger growth. The airport added 164,000 passengers in October, growing 10.7 percent over October 2009, according to airport data. That was the largest percentage gain so far this year, exceeding September’s growth.
In other airline news, American Eagle added two daily non-stops from MIA to Cleveland in November and Delta announced it would begin MIA – Jacksonville service in March 2011.
According to STR (formerly Smith Travel Research): Occupancy and rates grew at local hotels in September, compared to the prior year period. Miami Dade: 59.3 % (up from 52.9); Broward 53.6% (up from 49.5%); Palm Beach 46.4% (up from 44.3%). Occupancy across the U.S. grew to 59.9 %.
Occupancy and rates grew October: Occupancy in Broward County grew to 66.5 % from 60.6 percent in the prior-year period. Occupancy in Miami-Dade grew to 68.2 % from 62.3 %. In Palm Beach County, it grew to 55.1 % from 50.7 %.
Southwest Florida:
According to the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades CVB, lingering misperceptions about the Gulf Coast oil spill continued to cause some risk aversion impacts to visitation to Collier County, according to the September visitation report from Research Data Services. Visitation for September 2010 was down 1.0 percent from September 2009. On the positive side, the economic impact from visitors for the month increased by 1.2 percent to $37,743,323.
Congrats to the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club who received a prestigious honor as it was presented with "The Green to Gold Award" by the Economic Development Council (EDC) of Collier County, Florida, for "best exemplifying green leadership." The award was presented to the Southwest Florida resort during the EDC's "27th Annual Excellence in Industry Awards."
Three Paradise Coast resorts appeared in the Conde Nast Traveler 2010 Readers Choice Top 100 List for Mainland U.S. Large Resorts. The Ritz-Carlton, Naples beach resort is number 14; The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples is number 18; and the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa is number 70 on the list. The designation is reached by surveying readers of Conde Nast Traveler.
The Hawthorn Suites of Naples was honored as the Hotel of the Year for 2010 by the Wyndham Hotel Group. The boutique all suites hotel was honored with the award during a dinner at the Wyndham Hotel Group's global conference in Las Vegas.
The Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) was recently recognized by Airline and Airport News & Analysis with a U.S. Annie Prize 2010 for the "Fastest Growing Airport in the 5 to 10 Million Passenger" category.
The Naples Botanical Garden opened its new cultivated gardens of Asia and Florida and a new water garden on Nov. 13. This marked the final stage of the major redevelopment of Naples Botanical Garden as a new area attraction.
Naples Bay Resort, a Four Diamond property on Florida's Paradise Coast, has announced a special winter spa package ideal for couples looking to refresh, renew and relax. Named Blissful Intervention, included is pampering at Naples Bay Resort's Spa, lounging at the resort's pool complex in a private cabana, lunch poolside, and guest accommodations.
--------------------------------------
To submit items for future editions, send to jwfranklin1@gmail.comBest, Julie Wernick, HSMAInsider
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