Over the last five years, Miami has seen a 25% increase in travel during the summer months (June to August), according to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. As a result, major hotel brands are embracing a newfound confidence to do what would have been considered unimaginable just a few years ago: open a hotel in the dog days of summer.
Much of the hotel market activity is being fueled by a record-setting number of tourists, with 14.6 million people arriving at Miami International Airport last year. But while Miami Beach has long been one of the world’s most visited resort towns, the rise of Miami’s urban core as an entertainment and cultural hub has helped transform Miami into a destination that appeals to visitors from January through December, rendering the phrase ‘dead of summer’ obsolete in the Magic City.
Downtown Miami alone will see five new hotels open this summer: The Langford, Atton Brickell, ME Miami Hotel, East Hotel and a Homewood Suites by Hilton. Three of the five properties represent their brands’ first US location, underscoring Miami’s popularity as a global entry point for hotel flags.
“These hotels are placing bets on Miami’s elevated summer hotspot status during a time that would have once been considered a fool’s errand,” said the Miami Downtown Development Authority’s Executive Director, Alyce Robertson. “From new museums, street art exhibits, luxe global hotel brands, homegrown microbreweries and gastronomic experiences from some of the world’s top culinary masterminds, Miami’s mainland is packed with action year-round. The term snowbird no longer applies.”
If the market’s existing hotels are any indication, odds are that these new entries will find year-round success. Mainstays like the InterContinental Miami, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, enjoys above-average occupancy rates throughout the course of the year and hosts some of its largest events and conferences during the summer.
The urban core isn’t the only area getting attention. Nearly 5,000 rooms have delivered or are coming online in the greater Miami-Dade area. All signs indicate this pace will hold steady, with one of the market’s largest properties – a 1,700 room Marriott Marquis hotel and expo center at Miami Worldcenter – preparing to break ground in the coming months.
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