Aug 4, 2008 4:25 pm US/Eastern
Foreign Visitors Help Prop Up Sluggish Summer
Foreign Visitors Made Up Half Of Miami Dade Hotel Bookings
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
South Florida hotel operators can thank a weak American dollar for helping them fare better than their counterparts throughout the state as the summer tourism season continues its sluggish pace.
Miami Dade hotels and motels report that nearly 50-percent of their overnight visitors came from a foreign country. In Broward County, tourism officials say bookings from British travel groups are up about 35-percent from a year ago. Because of the favorable exchange rates, foreign visitors who stay in South Florida are, on average, spending more than their American counterparts.
In Miami Dade, visitors saw a 4-percent room rate increase in June, in Broward room rates were increased about a percent. Visitors to the Florida Keys got a break, room rates were down about 7 percent on average, according to Smith Travel Research.
Despite the increase in foreign visitors, business is hardly booming.
Hotels in Miami-Dade posted their lowest June increase in revenues in five years, while their counterparts in Broward and the Keys saw declines.
Nationwide, most hotels are facing increasing pressure to reduce room rates as vacancies rise because of a pullback in consumer spending.
Source: Sun Sentinel
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