Tourism in the Tropics

New South Beach address for Kimpton

San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants confirmed to The Miami Herald Wednesday that it will take over management of the Surfcomber Hotel on South Beach next month. The company expects to launch the renovated Surfcomber in time for Art Basel Miami Beach in December.

The boutique hotel company, with more than 50 hotels around the country, wasn't well known in Florida before the Kimpton-managed Epic Hotel opened in Miami in 2008. Kimpton also manages the Vero Beach Hotel & Club and has an eye on more growth in Florida.

Built in 1948, the Surfcomber has been managed by Doubletree for the last 10 years. The current operator didn't say much about the change, other than assuring customers that Hilton Worldwide would honor reservations through April 15. The statement also extended "best wishes for continued success in the future." 

Read more about the news here.

 

 

 

Flight schedule soon back to normal at MIA?

After nearly a week of disruptions due to a major fire, Miami International Airport expects a day without cancellations on Wednesday.

As this story reports, 27 flights at MIA were canceled Tuesday because of persistent problems fueling planes. That's still a significant improvement over the weekend and late last week, when hundreds of flights were called off.

The height of the air travel misery in Miami came, inconveniently, as a busy tourism weekend unfolded. Ultra Music Festival, the Sony Ericsson Open and a host of other events drew thousands of tourists, some of whom had to scramble to rearrange schedules or fly in to nearby airports.

The fire, which started last Wednesday night, wiped out the airport's fuel pumping system.

Temporary pumps have been installed, and more are coming online to get fueling capability back to pre-fire levels. A full replacement of the system will take "months," an airport spokesman said.

Shelborne Beach Resort getting a major overhaul

Coming soon to the old Shelborne Beach Resort on Collins Avenue: a whole lot of new.

The hotel is in the midst of a major renovation that will bring four restaurants, a boutique, a new infinity-edge pool, more sunbathing areas, new meeting space, spiffy new rooms and more.

Overseeing it all are two cousins who spent their childhoods hanging around the family-owned property.

Here's our story about the project and the people behind it. 

 

 

Party weekend looms thanks to Ultra, Sony Ericsson Open

South Florida's to do list this weekend: tennis at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne; electronic dance music at Ultra Music Festival in downtown Miami; fashion shows at Funkshion Fashion Week Miami Beach; romance and tragedy at Miami City Ballet's Romeo and Juliet in Miami; rides and carnival food at the Miami-Dade County Fair; fireworks at Fort Lauderdale's Centennial Beachfest.

Etc. Etc.

Our colleagues at Miami.com are calling the weekend's confluence of happenings Event-pocalypse. Just like they do for an approaching hurricane, residents should prepare now with plenty of gas in the tank to get around or provisions for the house if you plan to stay out of guaranteed traffic jams.

Here's the Miami Herald's report on what this very packed weekend means to the region.

Party flight from Amsterdam lands tonight

A plane full of Dutch electronic music fans lands in Miami Monday night, the inaugural trip for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' new Amsterdam-to-Miami route.

The first flight was originally scheduled on Sunday, but an online uprising led by a Twitter-savvy DJ and filmmaker got KLM to add two early voyages before Ultra Music Festival, which starts Friday.

Read more here about how a bunch of dance music enthusiasts managed to get the airline's attention.

New Princess ship to feature "SeaWalk"

Princess Cruises announced the name of its next ship, which launches in 2013...and it's a familiar one.

At a press conference Tuesday at Cruise Shipping Miami 2011, Princess President and CEO Alan Buckelew said the new ship will be called Royal Princess, which he called "a salute" to the original Royal Princess, the first purpose built ship for the brand. That ship debuted in 1984 and left the fleet in 2005; the name was given then to another ship in the fleet, which is going to a sister company this spring.

The 3,600-passenger ship will feature an industry first, company executives said: an enclosed glass-bottomed walkway called a SeaWalk that extends more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the ship. From there, you'll have clean view of the ocean 128 feet below.

The other side of the ship will feature a SeaView bar.

Royal Princess will also include a new pool for adults only, an expanded grownup-only area called The Sanctuary, a larger outdoor movie screen and balconies on all outside staterooms.

Construction of the ship started Tuesday with the cutting of the first steel plate at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. A sister ship joins Royal Princess in 2014.

Princess Cruises, part of Miami-based Carnival Corp., is headquartered in California.

Cruise industry meeting in Miami

Miami, the self-described "cruise capital of the world," is hosting the industry's main players this week at a conference and exhibition.

Cruise Shipping Miami 2011, formerly known as SeaTrade, is expected to draw about 10,000 attendees to the Miami Beach Convention Center. That includes cruise operators, representatives from port cities around the world and hundreds of companies who want valuable cruise line contracts.

We'll report news out of a "state of the industry" panel event on Tuesday morning. Cruise news followers, keep checking in for updates from the conference.

 

 

 

 

 

No more Grad Nite after '11

After nearly four decades of offering the Magic Kingdom to high school seniors for an all-night celebratory bash, Walt Disney World in Orlando announced that Grad Nite would end in 2011.

For many Floridians, the annual event was a rite of passage that fell in line with high school traditions like senior prom and graduation.  We talked to one principal who has attended for all of his 15 years as an administrator. He didn't want to believe the news.

Here's our story with more details.

Several high school juniors who we talked to consoled themselves with a fallback plan: Universal Orlando's similar event, Grad Bash, will go on.

Spring breakers descend on South Florida

A sign on the side of the eastbound MacArthur Causeway that appeared recently said everything there is to say about the Miami Beach attitude toward spring breakers: "Welcome spring breakers," it said. Followed by "no underage alcohol" and another warning against glass or littering on the beach.

We kept meaning to snap a picture of the sign, but when we asked Miami Beach tourism director Max Sklar about it this week, he said the message has been tweaked. Spring breakers are singled out no more; now, the sign more generically welcomes "visitors."

"Visitors are welcome, whether they're spring breakers or not," he said, adding that the city didn't want other visitors to think they had a free pass to partake in underage drinking and beach trashing.

South Florida tourism offices know they'll get some spring breakers who want beaches and nightlife, but they're more interested in attracting families, affluent couples and international travelers. Read more in today's story.

 

 

Sunshine tour wraps up Wednesday

Florida tourism boosters, including Gov. Rick Scott, are in the middle of a quick our-state-is-better-than-yours-especially-in-the-winter mission.

Officially called the "Share a Little Sunshine Tour," the two-day trip started Tuesday in Orlando with stops planned in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. (Notice a theme? They all got a lot of nasty weather this winter.)

Scott and his entourage are extending personal invitations to visit Florida and handing out prizes -- and oranges, according to Broward tourism director Nicki Grossman, who said she tossed a few to potential visitors in D.C. Tuesday.

Grossman said late Tuesday that her next stop was Chicago, where the high on Wednesday is expected to reach 32.

"The colder it gets, the more I like it," she said. Good for business, you know.

The trip, which wraps up in Chicago, is guaranteed to bring at least 120 people to the state. That's the number of winners who will board a plane Wednesday night and fly with Scott to Orlando, where they'll receive a four-day vacation courtesy of Southwest Airlines, Walt Disney World and other partners of state tourism marketing agency Visit Florida.