The Greater Miami CVB is launching $1 million worth of advertising starting in January after the area recorded a decline in hotel bookings, The Miami Herald reported.
The ad blitz marks the bureau’s first winter advertising campaign since 9/11. Generally, the first few months of the year in South Florida don’t require any extra promotion.
Hotels in South Florida have cut budgets and slashed rates in recent months as a result of sharp declines in consumer spending. A recent Greater Miami CVB survey found 65 percent of hotels planned to cut rates in 2009 to make up for booking shortfalls. The main reason: a slump in the number of corporate meetings, thanks to massive cutbacks in the financial sector.
Room revenue dropped 3 percent in the Miami-Dade region last October, while room revenue in Broward County and the Florida Keys recorded greater drop-offs: around 11 percent, according to Smith Travel Research.
“They aren't as nice as I'd like to see them,” said hospitality analyst Scott Brush of the Miami-Dade figures. “Then again, they aren't as bad as some places in the country.”
