Building a Better Miami with Teamwork

Visitors from across the globe are taking in the sun and sea, and getting down to business, whether in Miami for trade shows, corporate training programs or just stepping away from a cruise ship port for some serious shopping.

The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau reports a 5.4 percent increase in corporate and leisure travel over the last 12 months. The 15.1 visitors brought $25.1 billion to the Miami economy and plenty of reason for local hospitality groups to develop resources to serve a growing need, locally and internationally.

Miami is a natural breeding ground for homegrown conferences too. Hispanicize, a Miami-based event highlighting U.S. Hispanic trendsetters in music and film, is also a local leader in drawing corporate sponsors to Miami, including speakers from Facebook, the White House, Google, and Toyota,” according to a recent article in the Miami Herald, titled: “In Miami, homegrown conferences are heating up”.

Venture Up of Miami agrees that the city is heating up. Since 1983, the firm has provided corporate team development programs throughout Florida. “Recent years have shown an upshot for team building venues in Miami,” says Mike Donnelly, Venture Up Program Director, who also leads training programs for local corporations.

Many of the Venture Up’s training programs take place indoors at resorts and at corporate headquarters in Miami, especially in summer when humidity is high, says Donnelly. “In the past, Orlando was a top spot for our team building events,” he said. “Now Miami is the hot spot.” Venture Up’s most popular team building activity in Florida is the Amazing Race, he says.

In terms of serving the trade show and convention industry, a $615 million renovation project is underway at the Miami Beach Convention Center. An 800-room headquarters-hotel is slated for a March 2019 opening.

“We are breaking record upon record across industry indicators and are only beginning to realize the full potential and incremental economic impact,” said GMCVB President & CEO William Talbert, III in a recent article published by the South Florida Business Journal.

Miami International Airport expects record 43 million passengers in 2015, according to the article by staff writer Emon Reiser. Port Miami expects to surpass its 4.8 million multiday cruise passenger record, according to Reiser’s article. Miami is already known as of the “Cruise Capital of the World.”

The good news for locals? The influx has created 4.6 percent more hospitality jobs in Miami-Dade than last year, bringing the total to more than 134,300, and the future calls for more benefits for visitors and locals alike.