WELCOME TO MIAMI!

1.    SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DESTINATION, WHY I PICKED IT, THE PAST AND PRESENT OF TOURISM IN THE DESTINATION

Hello everyone! ¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to the ‘305’ or better known as the Magic City. I bet most of you immediately think of Miami as beaches and clubs, but it is so much more. The Greater Miami area is located at the Southeastern tip of Florida. Miami is an international city known for being a center and leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, arts, and trade; as well as serving as a hub to cruise ships to the Caribbean. This metropolitan area has The City of Miami as its major municipality, with the most population. However, it also includes other cities and neighborhoods such as Miami Beach, Wynwood, Little Havana, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne; altogether representing a major worldwide tourist destination because of its diversity, beauty, and tropical-like climate. Miami is a city I love and have had the pleasure to grow up in and near. Have you ever heard the phrase “Be a tourist in your own city?” Essentially, that is exactly what we are going to do here. I have spent countless weekends and summers throughout the city, yet I always find myself learning and doing something new, probably due to the fact that it is constantly evolving. Therefore, we will be exploring and learning all there is about tourism in Miami.

Royal Palm  Resort

Tourism here essentially began on April 13, 1896, when Henry M. Flagler officially extended his railway to connect West Palm Beach to Miami. One year later, Flagler opened the Royal Palm, a resort that brought America’s Gilded Age princes. In the early 1900s, tourism became one of Miami’s two major sources of revenues. People from all over the U.S. came to enjoy activities in the natural environment and weather conditions, especially to escape winters up north. Infrastructure grew during the post-World War I and II era, and Miami continued to be a place where tourists would come. During the 1970’s through the 1990’s as Miami became more cosmopolitan and the construction of the port brought new people as cruise ship would sail to the Caribbean. Today, Miami continues to rely on tourism to draw more international visitors; to swim in Miami Beach’s beautiful and warm waters, experience glamorous celebrity-style nightlife and largescale events like Ultra Music Festival and Art Basel.

2.    TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS RELATED TO THE DESTINATION, PARTICULARLY ITS DMO

Miami is linked to lots of tourism organization of different levels, each dedicated to supporting the tourism and hospitality industry. An example on a sector level is the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association (GMBHA). They advocate for their members of Miami-Dade County and commit to the advancement of sustainable hospitality practices. For this metropolitan area, the Great Miami Convention & Visitor Bureau (GMCVB) is the official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). GMCVB is a private, non-profit sales and marketing organization, whose mission is to promote all segments of the community and attract all people and organizations for conventions, business, and pleasure. The Greater Miami CVB partners with over 1,000 private businesses and represents four local governments: Miami-Dade County, City of Miami Beach, City of Miami, and the Villages of Bal Harbour. Their website www.miamiandbeaches.com provides potential tourists with suggested lists of places to see, events, attractions, activities, hotels, restaurants and more. They offer resources helpful tips for planning, including niche travel guides, and even allow people to explore the city through live webcams.

Some other DMOs related to the city are Visit Florida and Brand USA, they are state and national organizations that showcase and promote tourism in Miami on their website. This is perfect for those planning to visit domestically and internationally, respectively, and hope to learn more and about getting to the city. These umbrella organizations all work, even overlapping together, to encourage and attract travelers in exploring this city. DMOs really are important since they monitor and promote destinations while also coordinating its development. Part of this is done by offering resources for future visitors and conducting research to report tourism impact, all of which can be found on each DMOs respective website. 

3.    TOURISM ATTRACTIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR, THE MAIN DRAGS FOR TOURIST

Miami is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world, famous for its beaches, specifically spots like Miami Beach and South Beach. Greater Miami is filled with natural, recreational, diverse cultural and urban thrills. However, besides the beach, it is difficult to say what Miami’s true drags are since people travel for a combination of experiences. Attractions and entertainment are some of the main reasons people travel Luckily, this city offers numerous options that caters to not only the general public but any tourist in any niche. The following are some of Miami’s top known attractions and examples of common visitor experiences.

 

Through the city, nature lovers can partake in recreation activities like sightseeing, biking, fishing, diving, or kayaking. To observe South Florida flora and fauna, tourists can visit Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Bayfront Park or Botanic Gardens. Kid-friendly attractions include Zoo Miami, Miami Seaquarium, and Jungle Island.

Art Deco buildinigs

To absorb Miami culture tourists can explore the many neighborhoods that make up Greater Miami, like Little Havana and Little Haiti filled with history, music, dancing, and amazing food. With the one-of-a-kind Art Deco architecture of South Beach, the international MiMo architecture of downtown, and murals of Wynwood Walls in Design District, travelers can see the unique art, design, and architecture defining these neighborhoods. Those looking for historic sites and museums may want to consider Ocean Drive, the Venitian pool, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Miami Children’s Museum, Pérez Art Museum (PAM), and the Patricia and Frost Science Museum. 

Viscaya Museum and Gardens

For general entertainment, this South Florida metropolis offers a vibrant nightlife. Additionally, the cosmopolitan shops at Lincoln Road, Aventura Mall, and Bayside Marketplace are recorded as being a major attraction for international visitors. In the city, 87 annual events are held like; Art Basel, Miami Fashion Week, Ultra Music Festival, South Beach Food and Wine Festival, and NASCAR to name a few, bring in huge amounts of people to the city, including celebrities. 

Ulta Music Festival

4.    TRANSPORTATION, HOSPITALITY, DISTRIBUTION SECTORS AT THE DESTINATION

There are many methods of transportation to help you get in and around the Greater Miami area. So knowing the ins and outs of this sector may just help make your arrivals more efficient. Bringing tourists to the city, Miami International Airport (MIA) is its main airport. However, it is important to note that Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), serves as a nearby alternative for many tourists. Additionally, Miami is home to the “Cruise Capital of the World,” PortMiami, the largest passenger port worldwide. Coming soon is the new express passenger rail service, Brightline, with trains traveling at about 125 mph to connect Miami and Orlando in three hours. To get around, you may choose to rent a car, take a taxi, or public transportation including the Metrobus, Metrorail, Downtown Metromover (similar to Disney’s Peoplemover) and trollies. Be aware though, traffic is a constant! You will also find many people walking and biking, simply relying on sharing economies, like Uber or Citibike.

Miami’s hospitality sector is vast. There are three convention centers the James L. Knight Center located downtown, Miami Airport Convention Center, and Miami Beach Convention Center currently closed for reconstruction.

Iconic Fontainebleau Resort

To lodge, there are Airbnb's motels, hotels, and luxury resorts, with Miami Beach being the most preferred location. There are even over 30 Forbes awarded hotels, two of them Five Diamonds. But something more unique to the city is its intimate boutique hotels, found in unique settings like Art Deco buildings or the Versace Mansion. Experience the diverse and cultural foods of local restaurants. Miami offers endless authentic Latin American cuisine like popular Cuban restaurant Versailles. You can be sure to find trendy food, carefully crafted drinks, and even celebrity chefs throughout Greater Miami.

While most distribution now happens online, local tour operators and travel agents can be found within the city. Some popular ones include Sunny Miami and Miami Tour Company. Most distributors are now focusing on niche tourism, offering packages for those wanting to a specific experience. In Miami, Cultural Heritage Alliance for Tourism, Inc. (CHAT) has done just that. They are curating and hosting first-class cultural, heritage and urban contemporary tours in South Florida communities. 

5.    TOURISM SUPPLY AND DEMAND, NUMBER OF TOURISTS, SPENDING, AND HOTEL ROOMS ETC.

Greater Miami and the Beaches is one of the world's most popular destinations. About 15.9 million people visited Miami in 2017, increasing nearly 1 percent over the prior year. In that time, Miami faced challenges impacting tourism demand: Zika, the growth of the short-term rental industry, the drop in its number one international market, Brazil, and Hurricane Irma. The increase was thanks to a 2.3% bump in international visits, offsetting set a 0.5% decrease in domestic travelers.

Fact: More visitors are spending money shopping,
with international tourists spending double.

According to the GMCVB tourists spend an average of $270.62 dollars daily and stay at a hotel for an average of 6.02 nights. The total spending average is $1637.26 per person for one visit. While the majority of tourist spending in Miami is on lodging and shopping, it is estimated that the total spending is $25.9 billion. Hotel inventory consists of about 55,096 rooms, and in 2017 it continued to grow with another 2,633 rooms causing a small supply surplus.  There were a record 15.4 million hotel room nights sold. All this information is pivotal so demand can be monitored and predicted and suppliers can react. Miami is expecting an increase of tourism supply with construction all over the city in hopes of attracting more tourists and increase demand, this includes more hotels, a new mall/theme park, the American Dream, and the renovation of Miami Beach Convention Center.

6.    TOURIST MOTIVATION, THE MAJOR REASONS OF VISITING THE DESTINATION

People in Miami live a fast-paced life, yet they also spend the time to vacation and relax, as a result, it creates a certain ambiance that I believe attracts midcentric tourists. For years, the primary reason people have visited Miami was for leisure purposes. According to GMCVB’s visitor profile, this has strengthened even more in 2017, making up 86.2% of the visitors. The warm weather and many vacation spots are probably the main facilitators in visiting, and something like a hurricane would inhibit planning a trip. Business and convention visitors accounted for 7%, which had a slight decrease in domestic travelers but overall increase thanks to international visitors. This may be due to the temporary closing of Miami Beach Convention Center, pushing businesses away. The remaining visitors were in Miami for a cruise at 4.8% or visiting for personal/other reasons at 2.0%. Knowing these major reasons for motivation will then allow us to understand tourist behavior and ways DMOs can provide satisfactory travel experience.

7.    ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM, REVENUES, TAXES, JOBS, ETC.

Tourism is important to the Greater Miami because it brings revenues that directly affect the areas of hospitality, employment, and taxes. Any single dollar spent going to or in the city, work to improve the local economy. In 2017, domestic and international visitors generated more than $25.9 billion in direct expenditures on lodging, food, transportation, entertainment, and shopping. If the industry accepted multiplier of 1.5 is used, the direct and indirect economic impact in Miami would be over $38.9 billion. International visitors accounted for almost two-thirds of all direct expenditures, most likely as a result of lower domestic visitors. Spending of this magnitude allows the local governments, Miami-Dade County, Miami Beach, and Bal Harbour, to collect big amounts on taxes. This past year generated $127,953,576 in local sales taxes and each year, the GMCVB receives approximately 12% of the total tourist-related taxes, in this case, $28,042,277. All this helps the industry grow and provide jobs for local people.  As of 2017, 145,100 people are employed in hospitality and leisure in Miami-Dade County and make up 12.4 percent of total employment. (Source: GMCVB)

Source: Florida Department of Economic Opportunity

8.    SOCIAL AND CULTURAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM AT THE DESTINATION

Miami is a cultural melting pot and is basically a bilingual city.  It is nicknamed the Capital of Latin America. Primarily because of its high Hispanic population in the area.  So don’t be surprised if people talk to you in Spanish first. Unfortunately, some know no English at all and can cause a cultural clash. Ethnic neighborhoods are being preserved and embraced to represent the city and attract tourists. Massive Cuban immigration started in the 1950s to the 1990s and now represent the majority of Hispanics in the Greater Miami.

Caribbean Market Place in Little Haiti

Additionally, there is a large population of Haitians concentrated in the neighborhood of Little Haiti, where French Creole is highly spoken. However, it is truly considered a multicultural city because there are also large groups of Hispanics from other countries like Colombia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil from all other parts of Latin America. Locals and tourists encourage all these different backgrounds and cultural enhancement to the area such as their art, cuisine, sports, music, and festivities. These are considered some of Miami’s hidden cultural gems. On an opposite note, too much tourist attention may lead to commercialization and gentrification, threatening these communities and pushing people out. 

The Cuban and Cuban-American descendants continue to enjoy their traditions that can be seen in events such as the Calle Ocho Festival, Three Kings Parade, and cultural Fridays.  Also, hundred of Cuban restaurants are present all over the metropolitan area.  Any tourist who visits Miami wants to try Cuban food and visits the famous Little Havana neighborhood.  With the high immigration of South Americans over the years, the city has seen an increase in the variety of restaurants, such as Argentinian and Brazilian “Churrasquerrias”, Peruvian “Cevicherias”, and Venezuelan bakeries.  Also, there has been an increase in international soccer matches and tournament events, which it has brought people from other states and countries. Those looking for a cultural and heritage tourism experience, look no further! These neighborhoods emphasize just that.  

9.    ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM AT THE DESTINATION

In many cities, tourism transforms their areas in order to provide views of the surroundings of the local residents.  Miami is no exception.  The city has a Historic Preservation Division which its main function is to promote the identification, evaluation, rehabilitation, adaptive use, and restoration of the City's historic, architectural, and

Wynwood: Before and After

archeological heritage.  These responsibilities are interpreted by the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board and the Preservation Officer.  Some of these protected sites are places like The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, The Miami Circle at Brickell Park and The Freedom Tower.  On the other hand, Miami’s Virginia Key has been transformed recently from a desolated hammock to tropical wilderness by local volunteers and a Massachusetts-based volunteer group of travel professionals from Tourism Cares.  Nonetheless, Wynwood, a neighborhood in the heart of Miami, has transformed some of its primary industrial characteristic zones to provide entertainment with artwork, restaurants, breweries, clothing stores and dance venues.  Colorful murals covering the walls of many buildings can be found all over the place, drawing crowds of local and tourist people. 

"Gallo" Sculpture

Another example of an environmental transformation can be seen on Calle Ocho and its surrounding areas in the Little Havana neighborhood.  Rooster “Gallo” sculptures stand outside local businesses such as El Pub and La Taqueria. The particular trait is they are in character style, such as bullfighter, Cuban patriotic and even a firefighter, attacking tourists to pose for selfies with some of them. Tourism has fostered conservation and preservation of natural, cultural and historical resources, encouraging community beautification and revitalization.

Unfortunately, this city has not been shy of negative environmental impact from tourists. Air, noise, and litter pollution have affected the streets and beaches of Miami. Spring breakers in particular due to the most damage, leaving thousands of pounds of trash pouring into the oceans. In the past, they have seen the erosion of the beaches and near destruction of ecosystems. 

10.    TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING OF THE DESTINATION

I could not find a defined tourism policy for Miami. However, it does have an extensive generated by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor Bureau. From this, a general policy is presented pledging to identify and take action on critical issues that will drive the Travel and Tourism Industry forward and ensure it thrives. The GMCVB consulted Miami-based Ernst & Young/MMGY Global and included input from elected officials, industry stakeholders, and a broad-based community to generate Destination Miami: Strategic Plan — The Future of Greater Miami and the Beaches’ Travel & Tourism Industry 2013-2017, they conducted a 5-year plan. Ernst & Young/MMGY Global supplemented the market research and analysis compiled by the GMCVB research team.

Utilizing the supplemented research, Ernst &Young/MMGY Global updated its understanding of the current size, industry distribution and growth potential of the current Travel and Tourism Industry of Greater Miami and the Beaches, in addition to identifying new opportunities to highlight the city’s assets and mitigate the impact of its liabilities on the recommended strategies to accelerate future growth. Focus had been on the cultural tourism so heavily discussed. Their plan contains clear steps and goals to support sustainable tourism in Miami.

11.    TOURISM RESEARCH REGARDING THE DESTINATION

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) conducts primary and secondary research to gather information so that the Research Division can generate and prepare reports with data collected from research partners, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Ipsos Loyalty, and Smith Travel Research. These reports measure characteristics of visitor stay, total overnight visitor estimates, visitor perceptions, visitor profile, and economic impact of overnight visitors to name a few. GMCVB intercepts surveys at local events by sampling attendees to provide an insight into who attends, where they are from, the type of lodging used and their impressions of the event. This diverse group of events that occur year round and are located throughout Miami-Dade County. Additionally, they get information from organizations in the industry like airports, even conducting a good amount of surveys at MIA and FLL. With this information, they can be proactive rather than reactive in the industry, while also informing their partners.

12.    TOURISM MARKETING AND FUTURE OF TOURISM

In an attempt to attract and motivate new travelers, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor Bureau has been working on a new campaign called "Found in Miami." Culture and experience-motivated travel is a major trend among the traveling population. So to grow visitation substantially, the city must credibly convince prospective visitors that Miami is a culture and experience-rich destination. One of their goals is to really get tourists exploring the diverse neighborhoods that make up the city. For this year, the “Found in Miami” campaign will continue to evolve, highlighting the most unique aspects of the Miami and Beaches experience in order to attract culture seekers. The new campaign has been designed to be a multiyear, multipurpose brand campaign using social media and community influencers. By reaching out online, they are trying to get people to ask themselves what unexpected things can they find in Miami. The GMCVB also has other campaigns catered to specific target markets and programs like the Miami Beach Convention Center, Consumer U.S. & International, LGBT, Winter Weather, Summer Travel, Luxury and Always On Booking. For the Greater Miami and Beaches' full marketing plan click here. 

13.    MY SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DESTINATION AND THE DMO FOR MORE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE DESTINATION AND RATIONALE FOR MY SUGGESTIONS

In my opinion, DMOs may want to consider the focusing on their transportation. Despite the amount of public transportation Miami offers, car rentals are still the preferred mode of transportation among tourists. Miami-Dade’s system, while prominent, could use some efficiency, as well as expansion to local neighborhoods. With some renovations and promotion, tourists may shift to public transportation. Additionally, marketing should be done for bike and scooter shares, encouraging more use and implementing more stations. This would not only cut congestion but air pollution. Greater Miami does its best in promoting and practicing sustainability. For instance, through their "Keep Miami Beach Clean" campaign. Following the disastrous Floatopia event in 2016, the city developed new stricter, strategies for spring break; ban on coolers, tents and inflatable devices on the beach, along with stricter enforcement of the existing ban on alcohol on the sand. Neighborhood streets would also be closed off to nonresidents, and noise limitation on amplified music would be enforced.