Southern Florida Heats Up As Rates, Occupancy Rise

<B> Southern Florida Heats Up As Rates, Occupancy Rise</B>

By Judy Williams

As the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau touted record-breaking statistics for the 1997/1998 fiscal year--citing 68.2 percent occupancy rates and an average daily room rate surging past the $100 mark for the first time ever-- expansion plans were well underway at airports, hotels and convention centers trying to spruce up their digs.

According to Palm Beach County CVB president and CEO Warren McLaughlin, it is unusual for a destination to experience an increase in occupancy and average daily room rate during a year when room inventory also has increased. Typically, such a scenario would result in decreased occupancy or average daily room rate. McLaughlin credits the increase to a combination of internal and external forces.

"We've experienced unprecedented growth in 1998 as a result of hotels and attractions investing in continuous facility enhancements," he said. Another contributing factor has been a strong national economy and aggressive domestic and international marketing, he added.

After several years, the CVB finally has approved the construction of the Palm Beach County Convention Center, which is expected to begin by December 2000.

Officials for the proposed $58 million, 232,000-sq.-ft. center still are considering designs for a 90,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall, as well as breakout and ballroom space totaling 40,000 square feet. Space also has been allocated on the 25-acre site for a 400-room hotel.

Opposite the Kravits Center and adjacent to CityPlace (a 77-acre shopping, restaurant and entertainment urban complex) the Center site is within five miles of 2,500 hotel rooms and only three miles from the Palm Beach International Airport.

"The Convention Center will provide the large-scale exhibition space, technology and resources to make Palm Beach County a global leader in the meetings and conventions industry," McLaughlin said.

<B><CENTER>The New And Improved </CENTER></B>

On the hotel front, The Breakers recently opened its $25 million expansion project, The Oceanfront Conference Center, Spa and Beach Club. The center's facilities include a 15,000-sq.-ft. Mediterranean-style ballroom, 8,000 square feet of pre-function space and five executive boardrooms totaling 2,100 square feet.

Earlier this year, Marriott's Ocean Pointe, Palm Beach Shores opened its accommodations, which feature deluxe guestrooms and one-, two- and three-bedroom villas, with full kitchens, spacious dining and living room areas and whirlpool tubs.

Also earlier this year, Palm Beach International Airport began construction to lengthen the main runway from 8,000 to 10,000 feet, to accommodate an anticipated increase in business travel and flights from Europe, South America and the West Coast of the United States. At a projected cost of $12.9 million, the runway is expected to start accepting traffic in 2000.

Further south, though, Fort Lauderdale's 1998 occupancy fell from 72 percent to 68 percent. Several mitigating factors contributed to the shift, including the fact that in 1998 the city added 655 guestrooms to its existing inventory and the average daily room rate increased from $78.04 in 1997 to $84.32 in 1998.

The number of visitors to the city in 1997 broke all records, topping 6.4 million, which has resulted not only in the expansion of the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, but the construction, upgrading and renovation of 24 hotels, which added 8,424 rooms to the city's inventory.

"We are experiencing a tremendous surge in popularity, which has led to more and more hotel companies turning their attention to us as an area in which to expand," said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Newest on the books is the Radisson Resort Coral Springs, adjacent to the new Tournament Players Club Golf Course, featuring 224 rooms and a 17,000-sq.-ft. conference center.

Two other recent additions include a 168-suite, $12 million Springfield Suites Marriott in Dania Beach and a 107-room Hampton Inn Hotel in Pembroke Pines.

Not unlike Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Greater Miami too is basking in the heat of a very strong marketplace. Said William Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau, "With the success of events like Super Bowl XXIII and the Travel Industry Association of America's POW WOW this year, we expect 1999 to be very strong."

Miami Beach, meanwhile, welcomed the opening of its first new hotel in 30 years. The $135 million, 800-room Loews Miami Beach on South Beach features three concierge level floors, 85,000 square feet of meeting space, a 28,000-sq.-ft. ballroom, six restaurants and lounges, fitness and business centers, a beauty salon and retail stores (see story, page 25).

And the year 2000 will bring to Miami's downtown Brickell financial district not only the millennium, but also the $85 million, 316-room Mandarin Oriental. The five-star hotel's guestrooms will include all the typical first-class amenities, a 200-seat restaurant, lounge, bar with cigar divan, conference facilities and a 24-hour business center.