Tourism in the Tropics

Girlfriends get away at the Loews

The Loews Miami Beach Hotel is hosting a girls weekend full of gab, food and shopping.

The Marie Claire Girlfriends' Getaway Weekend, which lasts through Sunday, includes talks from NBC reporter and author Maria Menounos, Miami chef Michelle Bernstein and a Marie Claire editor.

Guests can shop at pop-up boutiques featuring jeans, undergarments and more. Appropriate to the location (and heat), flip flop brand Havianas will also be on hand.

Mani-pedis, poolside of course, will also be available.

The weekend's getaway price tag: $499 a person.

 

Hotel workers cheered at ceremony

If you're at a hotel today and everyone from the manager to the valet seems a little hoarse, blame Tuesday's Inn Key awards. The 17th annual ceremony, put on by the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association, honors hourly hotel workers -- and provoked a lot of cheering.

At the event, 21 people were honored in categories ranging from valet to engineering to bellperson and room keeper. The top prize is lodging employee of the year, which went to Melissa Szulszteyn from the W South Beach.

Szulszteyn is new to the hospitality industry; she got her job as executive assistant to the general manager and hotel manager two and a half years ago after her position at her last job was eliminated in a major downsizing. At the time, she was upset to lose a job she'd held for four years. But Tuesday, as she clutched a bouquet of roses and plaque, she was all smiles.

"Everything happens for a reason," she said.

More than 800 people attended the 17th annual event at the InterContinental Miami, with 55 hotels represented, said Wendy Kallergis, the association’s president and CEO.

Winners in 10 categories were given a plaque and $500 each. A winner was chosen in each category for a hotel with more than 200 rooms and one with fewer than 200.

Winners were: Alvaro Reyes of Eden Roc Renaissance and Jean Pierre Isaza of The Hotel for bellperson; Hannah Lombardo of Eden Roc Renaissance and Ariel Flores of the Raleigh for food and beverage; Megan Etchison of Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay and Jade Spano of the Delano for front office; Marie Jolis of W South Beach and Nadia Jean Louis of Canyon Ranch for room keeper; Elvia Zambrano of InterContinental Miami and Eduardo Penalva of the Setai for security officer; David Arth of the Mondrian and Jeff Dolgan of Canyon Ranch for recreation; Fidel Farias of Sofitel Miami and Alberto Ruiz of Acqualina for engineering; Brenda Cooper of Four Seasons Miami and Rashaan Patterson of Clevelander/Essex House for culinary/kitchen; Keena Blum of Fairmont Turnberry Isle and John Durham of The Hotel for concierge and Charles Coley of the Biltmore and Maydee Bauta of Clevelander/Essex House for valet.

Hotels were also honored in various categories: Loews Miami Beach for guest relations; Trump International and Canyon Ranch for employee relations; Fontainebleau for diversity in the workplace; Shore Club and The Betsy for community service and InterContinental Miami and Setai for environmental achievement.

William and Kate Wedding Watch

Can't get enough of Royal Wedding coverage? (That's unlikely, considering the barrage of TV specials, tabloid stories and print devoted to Prince William and Kate Middleton.)

For those who want to awake before dawn and watch the nuptials with a likeminded group, South Florida companies are providing plenty of options. Have an English breakfast in Sunrise, South Beach or Coral Gables as the wedding events unfold live at 6 a.m. Or get up later and watch the replay with a proper tea.

Here's our story on how businesses are capitalizing on the royal event to draw customers.

Gators and ligers and (discounted) fares, oh my

South Florida natives probably remember field trips to old-time attractions like Zoo Miami (Metrozoo back then), Miami Seaquarium and Parrot Jungle (now Jungle Island). Millions of people visited in 2010, and our cover story in today's Business Monday section explains how these local fixtures are trying to draw more visitors as the economy continues to recover from recession. One sure bet: Offer deals, as several are doing this summer.

Some other examples include:

*Introducing more interactive experiences, like the upcoming "Crazy for Camelids" offer at Jungle Island that includes quality time with a camel, llama and alpaca or the Sea Trek helmet dive that debuts at Miami Seaquarium in July.

*Building new things to see, like the $25 million addition at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale that will add a two-story river otter exhibit, a simulated airboat ride and a hurricane experience. Zoo Miami saw attendance increase more than 30 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year after the opening of the Amazon and Beyond exhibit. The next major expansion, which focuses on the Florida Everglades, is slated to open in 2014 or 2015 

*Riding the pop culture wave, like they've done at Billie Swamp Safari on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. Promoters use Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about events and sold more than 1,100 deals through Groupon earlier this year. Park employees are also featured in a reality TV show called Swamp Men, which motivates an estimated 10-20 percent of visitors.

Read the story (and see plenty of pictures) here.

Big WSJ write-up of Burn Notice's leading role as USA Network's "sunny" brand and format, which made it the top-watched cable network. The Miami-based show doesn't get enough attention, in my opinion. (Though it does get plenty of tax subsidies, thanks to Florida's production incentive program.) It's incredible to think this is the first scripted series to film a second season in Miami, and now it's filming Season Five in Coconut Grove.

Ready for the oil-spill anniversary? Visit Florida offers some tourism talking points.

Visit Florida, the state's tax-funded tourism board, just circulated its suggested talking points for next week's Gulf oil rupture anniversary. If a reporter calls, Visit Florida suggests mentioning how much the crisis brought together the tourism industry.
The memo does contain an interesting fact: no Florida beach closed because of the oil.
It also leaves out (these are talking points, after all) the warnings posted throughout the Panhandle against swimming off beaches as gooey tar balls crashed into the surf and lined the sand. I was there in Pensacola for some stories the week before Fourth of July, and it was pretty ugly. And there was lots of local controversy about the decision to keep beaches open despite obvious contamination.
But the mess didn't last. Within four or five days, the beaches were relatively clean again and we out-of-town reporters had very little to write about. (If only we had some talking points handy...)

The talking points: click here.

Hotel taxes make gains even sans Super Bowl

Miami-Dade hotel taxes managed a tiny increase in February compared to the previous year, despite the absence of the Super Bowl. Broward hotel tax collections took a hit though, dropping 6 percent.

Go here for economy reporter Doug Hanks' take on the tax situation.

And for a look at what the recession did to the tourism industry (courtesy of the Economic Time Machine), check out this report.

Student art night at Miami hotel

Student artists from Miami Arts Charter School will exhibit their work Tuesday night at SpringHill Suites in Miami.

The showcase, which lasts from 4-8 p.m., is part of SpringHill Suites' ArtNight series. The brand started the event in 2010 to provide a venue for local artists and give guests a taste of the local art scene. Miami is the third ArtNight location.

Works include sculptures, paintings and drawings by the school's seniors.

The hotel is located at 1311 NW 10th Ave. in Miami.

 

New (tall) sightseeing option in Miami-Dade

Looking down on Miami just got easier. Gray Line's Miami outfit on Monday launched new double-decker, open-top service through Miami Beach, downtown Miami, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and Little Havana.

Update: Read more on the service here.

 

Where's Waldorf?

One of Ocean Drive's newest updated hotels, Waldorf, is set to open next month. While the finishing touches are being added, the 44-room property is seeking a face.

Deadline is at the end of today, so anyone interested in representing the hotel at 860 Ocean Dr. can visit the Facebook page of Room Mate Hotels, which includes the Waldorf, and upload a photo.

The winner will be featured on promotional materials for a year starting May 1 and will also get an 8-day stay in any Room Mate hotel around the world (there are 15 to choose from), a weekend at the Waldorf and 15 percent discount on all Waldorf bookings during the year.

Four finalists will also get a free weekend at a Room Mate hotel.

Set to open in May, the 1937 building was originally called the Waldorf Towers Hotel. The South Beach hotel closed in 2009 for renovations and was recently added to the Room Mate Hotels portfolio.