The South Florida city’s mix of glamour and state-of-the-art facilities make it an irresistible choice for event planners, says Jenny Southan
Spend any time in Miami and the Spanish you picked up at school will come in handy. In fact, as Jorge Gonzalez, general manager of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, says: “Sometimes you will hear every language other than English.” Known as the Gateway to the Americas because of its proximity to South America and the Caribbean, the US city is home to a rich array of multicultural communities, most notably Cuban – about a third of the city’s 430,000 residents are from the island, and their vibrant presence can be felt not only in the neighbourhood of Little Havana but in every aspect of the city, from its hotels, restaurants and bars to its shops and taxi firms.
Perhaps less known is that Miami is also home to a thriving international banking sector, making it a big draw for global firms. Kay Hollander, management company Global Spectrum’s director of sales and marketing for the Miami Beach Convention Centre, says: “I think a lot of it is to do with the beauty of the destination, the international sophistication, the good airlift and the ability to ship and receive goods to anywhere in the world through the Port of Miami. We have more than 150 international consulates, trade offices and financial chambers of commerce, and a central location in the eastern time zones that facilitates communication with Europe and western US.”
With its year-round balmy weather, well located airport, direct links from the UK – American Airlines, BA and Virgin Atlantic all serve the route daily from London Heathrow – and profusion of hotels and state-of-the-art event venues, it’s no surprise that Miami is becoming known as much for its thriving meetings industry as for its palm trees and beautiful people. According to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), more than a million delegates from around the world converge here each year, contributing close to US$1 billion to the local economy.
What delegates will be immediately struck by is the city’s innate glamour. Everywhere you look offers a reminder that this is the land of plenty – from the Mediterranean Revival architecture of Coral Gables and its sidewalks lined with exotic banyan and brilliant orange Royal Poinciana trees, to the glossy modernism of Miami Beach. “Everything was built to be aesthetically pleasing, to be a playground for the rich and famous,” says Megan Fries, director of operations for Dragonfly Expeditions, which offers a range of full and half-day tours for corporate groups.
As a result, says Suzie Sponder, director of media relations for Europe and Asia at the GMCVB, “combining business with pleasure is relatively effortless”. She adds: “The city is a rare hybrid – a sophisticated urban resort with world-class business amenities that doubles as a laid-back tropical paradise. It has the lure of the world-famous South Beach art deco district, white sandy beaches, the sparkling Biscayne Bay, restaurants that are among the top in the nation, and legendary nightlife.”
This reputation as a pleasure destination meant that, much like Las Vegas, Miami’s meetings trade was hit hard by the worldwide recession. Gonzalez at the Mandarin Oriental says: “People were trying not to bring groups here because it could be misinterpreted, so that hurt us. Things have started to get better but I am not saying it is solved – it will be a slow recovery but at least it is moving in the right direction.”
What that means is Miami now offers greater value as a conference city. Gonzalez says: “Rates across the destination went down because there was a lot of panic when there was no occupancy, and it’s going to take a couple of years to start to see them coming back to some kind of normality.” Event organisers should therefore have more room to negotiate group deals.
If you are in Miami to attend a convention, you will likely be based on one of the broad boulevards in the rapidly developing Downtown business district. The construction boom that has taken place over the past decade means this compact neighbourhood is now a forest of blue glass and steel, quite a contrast to the candy-coloured low-rise architecture of South Beach.
The Miami Beach Convention Centre, located near the Holocaust Memorial in the art deco district (see the Four-Hour Guide supplement enclosed with this issue for a walking tour), is the biggest event venue in the city. With almost 100,000 sqm of meeting space, it has played host to major public and trade events such as the Jewellers International Showcase, the Miami International Boat Show, the South Florida International Auto Show and Art Basel Miami Beach. An ambitious masterplan for expanding and renovating the venue is currently being drawn up.
The city’s many hotels – it boasts close to 50,000 rooms – also provide good meeting facilities. Kimpton’s 411-room Epic was unveiled at the end of 2008 and has a private marina, a 3,000 sqm lawn for tented events or sporting activities, and seven conference rooms including a ballroom for 400 delegates standing. The 65-room Hotel Urbano opened in January with 150 sqm of meeting space, as did the five-star Tempo Miami, a Rock Resort – a 56-room property housed in a 67-storey mixed-used tower, one of the tallest in the city.
Opposite the Epic, two Marriott properties – the 313-room JW Marriott Marquis and the 44-room Beaux Arts – are due to open in the same building on the Avenue of the Americas in November. The hotels will have shared access to 7,500 sqm of meeting space, while a Jim McLean indoor golf school, a 900 sqm NBA-approved basketball court and a virtual bowling alley will provide plenty of teambuilding options.
Nearby, the 295-room Mandarin Oriental, located on the nearby island of Brickell Key, completed an extensive revamp in the summer to mark its tenth birthday. It has an 835-capacity ballroom and 11 function spaces, with some in a dedicated building accessed by a glass skybridge, as well as a private beach that can host up to 450 delegates for a reception. The uber-luxurious SLS Miami Beach is due to open in the former Ritz Plaza hotel in 2012, but further details on this have yet to be released.
Bicentennial Park in Downtown, which plays host to events of up to 45,000 people, is undergoing a complete revamp – when it reopens in 2013 it will be renamed Museum Park and will feature the new Miami Art and Science museums. There will also be space for private events. Next year, as part of the City Centre Redevelopment Project in Miami Beach, the New World Symphony will gain a Frank Gehry-designed campus with a 757-seat concert hall and various other rooms available for hire. All these projects will help the city’s MICE trade to thrive for years to come.
For a venue with a colourful history, try the 275-room Biltmore hotel, located in the primarily residential district of Coral Gables ten minutes south of Downtown. Open since the 1920s, it was a popular haunt for celebrities and world leaders, as well as for the bikini-clad beauties who posed by the enormous swimming pool. In its early years it had a casino run by Thomas “Fatty” Walsh, a prohibition-era gangster who ended his days here in 1929 in a Hollywood-style shoot-out at the hands of a gambler (legend has it he still haunts the property). Today it has more than 3,700 sqm of event space including ballrooms, amphitheatres and meeting rooms, along with a culinary academy, an 18-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross, and the signature Palme d’Or restaurant, renowned for French nouvelle cuisine.
What other incentive activities are on offer? From swimming with dolphins at the Seaquarium to kayaking, snorkelling and kite surfing at Crandon Beach and taking a sunset catamaran ride around Biscayne Bay, there is all manner of adventures to be had. But according to Gonzalez, there is one particular experience that should be built into every itinerary – the Everglades. “We promote tours and packages for individuals and groups with professional guides who explain the history and the role this area plays in the ecosystem of the world,” he says. “It’s a unique treasure that we have here and it’s part of our life.”
The subtropical wetlands, which are UNESCO protected, are only about an hour’s drive from Downtown so can easily be visited in a morning or afternoon. There are numerous alligator farms to choose from and trips can be tailored to include airboat rides across the sawgrass marshland, with the chance to see snapping turtles, crocodiles and gators up close in their natural habitat – you can even watch man-versus-beast wrestling contests.
The non-squeamish can tuck into alligator sandwiches or buy genuine claw key rings, but for those with an appetite for something less meaty, try the family-owned exotic fruit store Robert is Here at 19,200 Southwest 344th Street, Homestead, just up the road from the alligator farm on 192nd Avenue. Try one of the fresh fruit shakes or stock up on some hot sauce, key lime jelly or local honeycomb to take home. You are in the Sunshine State, after all.
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