Miami hotel rates, revenues near top in nation

Miami-Dade County’s hotels are booming, third in the nation in both their average daily room rates and revenue per available room in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the annual meeting of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau was told last week.

The county’s hotels were sixth in average occupancy, said David Whitaker, bureau president and CEO, who noted the delicate balance between rates and occupancy by saying that if average rates had been $49 per night, every hotel room in the county would have been full all the time.

As it was, the average daily room rate for the year in the county’s hotels was $223.62 and the revenue per available room – factoring in vacant as well as occupied rooms in the county’s 66,176-room supply – was $161.11. Total weekly demand rose 2.4%, he said.

First in the nation in occupancy, rates and revenue per room was New York City. Oahu Island was second in those categories.

Mr. Whitaker told the crowded Sunset Ballroom of the Miami Beach Convention Center that the bureau is estimating a relatively small demand rise for the year that began Oct. 1, building on top of the past year’s strong figures.

But, he noted, the bureau hopes to fill key gaps.

“We need our international visitors back,” he said. “We’re still about 10% behind” a strong pre-pandemic international flow. Miami International Airport figures through August, the latest available, show that for the year to date 35,143,179 international passengers have arrived or departed, up 2.56% from the prior year at that time. Domestic passengers for the same period declined 2.8%.

Corporate travel, Mr. Whitaker said, is also a bit soft.

The industry, he said, is awaiting opening of the planned convention hotel at 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, directly beside the convention center, to add group meetings. The 800-room Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center hotel has been announced to open in November 2025.