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A projected increase in visits by Floridians who live outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties should offset any declines in international visitation, according to the bureau.
Reserved 2026 hotel occupancy as of Jan. 5 was 30% for Jan. 15 to May 15. For the entire year of 2026, reserved hotel occupancy as of Jan. 5 is 17% – a 1% increase from last year and 6.3% year-over-year growth.
A number of global sporting events will take place this spring. They include the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon, Formula E, the World Baseball Classic, Wodapalooza, Miami Open Tennis, PGA Tour Cadillac Championship and the F1 Miami Grand Prix.
“We’re a big event town and these big events will help us fend off any headwinds, whether it’s one specific country or a downturn in the economy of a country,” said bureau CEO and President David Whitaker. “The key is you can’t have all your eggs in one basket. The other key is, it’s not just leisure vacationers, which we love. But big events bring huge crowds, they bring brand identity, sports and recreation and fitness.… It checks all the boxes.”
In addition to those events, major conventions will be held here in the first half of this year alone.
“It is going to be one of the busiest first six months ever, with 11 major citywide conventions that are in the building … that’s just through May,” he said. “It proves how important these conventions are to building stability around the economy because, whether leisure travel is up or down, a market is up or down, to have the predictability of a major sporting event that’s going to attract tens of thousands of people or a major convention that’s going to guarantee to attract tens of thousands of delegates, that’s the kind of stability and predictability that you can build around to maintain rate.
“That’s why we’re so excited,” he continued, “because it’s not just who can fill a room for $49 a night but it’s filling rooms with predictable convention delegates, sports fans, helps hotels yield around that so that they can charge a higher premium for unsold rooms; thus, the ADR goes up.”
Mr. Whitaker added that providing quality experiences in all areas is a top priority, and “that’s why this industry, the tourism and hospitality industry, is so vital to our economy even in the uncertain times that we’re facing about the economy and about international travel in general.”
“Now, we don’t rest on our laurels,” he said. “If we’re going to charge a high premium for the hotel room, we have to make sure that their experience is nothing but the best level. That’s why it’s as important as it is to have a great hotel room as it is to have a great restaurant and great events and great art and culture and music festivals and shopping.”
Mr. Whitaker also said that the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel, opening in November 2027, will add an element of convenience
“Having a hotel that’s connected to the center is for convenience. It’s weather resilient in terms of a rainy day or a hot afternoon in August in the summer,” he said. “You can put 600 people in a block under one roof … and that’s better for the meeting planner; that’s better for the clients when they walk across the skybridge into the convention center. It’s right there at the foot of Miami Beach, so that’s a game-changer.”
At this time last year, Mr. Whitaker said, “there was great uncertainty, especially as it relates to Canada.”
“For the first eight months of the year, and again, we never like to use the word down, but who would’ve predicted that we were down only 2% international year-to-date … and that’s just January through August,” he said.
Mr. Whitaker said people were predicting numbers would be down significantly lower.
“The fact that we’re only down, if you will, 2% is really encouraging, speaks to the resilience of the destination, speaks to the popularity of the destination, speaks to the, not having all of our eggs in one basket even though we’re the second-busiest international airport in the country and only behind New York as the second-most number of international arrivals,” he said. “To have survived that, if you will, is encouraging and, more importantly, we are now on the precipice of a future, a new year that’s just getting kicked off.”
With sporting events and conventions ahead, upward fluctuations of current numbers are a possibility.
“Destinations aren’t built over weeks and months; they’re built over years,” Mr. Whitaker said. “The brand reputation of Miami has never been more exciting in terms of it’s not just a party town. It’s not just a beach town even though the beach is critically important. We’re a full, year-round, multifaceted destination welcoming the world.”
The post Miami tourism likely to be on par with last year’s numbers appeared first on Miami Today.
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