Hello everyone:

As March nears its end, it marks the close-out of our fiscal year’s second quarter and the midway point of our annual business plan (October 2023 - September 2024).
 
At this mid-point, I wanted to spotlight the important work and results of our major convention sales efforts to help fill the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) and partner host hotels as well as “in house” meetings. Our efforts involve engaging with dozens and dozens of partner hotels that are part of the bids allowing us to win all across Miami-Dade County.
 
Last year, the team’s goal was to secure 11 new conventions, meetings and/or trade shows that sign agreements to have a future event hosted by our partners at the MBCC and as a result, enter into room-block agreements with partner host hotels. I emphasize ‘new’ because this goal does not include now 19 supporting annual conventions, trade shows or events held at the MBCC that we support every year.  
 
Last year, our teams and partners achieved and surpassed that goal and secured 14 future wins. As a result, the team’s previous goal was increased to 15 secured wins for the current fiscal year.
 

I am incredibly pleased (and quite frankly proud) of our teams. As to date, ten new and future events have been secured. With them, will be a projected (based on current hotel negotiations) 73,413 contracted room-nights . Equally impactful is that nine of these events are booked for convention center and hotel contracted dates and are happening in the next 36 months – and the tenth is booked in May 2027. It is so important to help build compression throughout the destination (for all hotels) and have predictable and planned room blocks on the books to help our properties and the MBCC yield rates and dates in and around these solid blocks of business.

All current wins are commitments from organizations that will be calling the MBCC home for the very first time.  Also of note, only two of the events represent the traditional non-profit trade or civic association segment of our audience and client base.  This is especially important as we know, not-for-profit associations ― while cherished and mission-driven ― are far more rate sensitive – especially to hotel room reservations and food and beverage budgets.  So this is a real win/win for so many of our partners.
 
As noted earlier, one of the other fundamental roles of our organization is the recruitment and success in confirming future meetings for the ballrooms and boardrooms of our hotel partners (in-house bookings).  At the mid-year point, our team has secured 257 such future meetings in partnership with our hotel sales teams which are represented by an additional 98,515 room-nights contracted.

Speaking of hotel room-nights, if one calculated the total of all future room-nights secured to date, these 171,958 room-nights contracted, simply using the annual average daily hotel room rate price for 2023 ($221.34 per night), would generate $4,947,954 in local bed tax revenues for our community.  That is $4.9 million in revenue that goes directly to helping our community not only be an amazing place to convene in and visit – but an amazing place to live, work and play.
 
The interest being generated to meet and convene in our destination has never been more evident – based in part of course on the new sales leads that our teams are prospecting for and opening bids on. One vivid example (and barometer) is that to-date, in the current fiscal year, the sales team has generated 82 new sales leads for meetings and events.  This number compares well to the total of 78 sales leads generated in all of FY 21-22 and well on our way to matching the lead productivity and performance set last year (FY 22/23) with 180 leads generated.
 
We are keenly aware that we have six more months to go as we work to achieve our goals and much more work is in front of our teams.  But I would be remiss if I did not take this chance to thank and recognize our Senior Vice President of Convention Sales & Services – Carol Motley.  And Carol would be the first to say this is truly a team effort both with our talented and committed colleagues who make up our entire convention sales and convention services departments but also the incredible support we enjoy and the partnership with Freddie Peterson and the outstanding team at the MBCC ― including the vital MBCC vendors and the collective collaboration with the City of Miami Beach.
 
So the team will keep driving … we pledge to you. And speaking of ‘driving,’ later and below in this week’s newsletter, there is a dedicated brief on the current partners who have committed foursomes to participate in our annual Hospitality Open Golf Tournament – the H.O.T Challenge. Listed are the current partners and sponsors who have pledged to participate to date. A rousing thank you to them all – and a special thank you from our current and future students with scholarships at local colleges with hospitality, tourism management or aviation programs.  This supports the important and meaningful work of our Black Hospitality Initiative – now in its 31st year.  So please do consider and pledge to field golfers or simply just be a part of this year’s event scheduled for May 17th at the amazing golf links at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Isle Resort & Spa.

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