Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/29859
TO GREATER MIAMI & THE BEACHES REMAINS STRONG DEMAND FOR TRAVEL Greater Miami & The Beaches Ranked #2 in Hotel Room Rate and #2 in Occupancy For The MonthOf January 2011 Among the Top 25 U.S. MARKETS For the month of January 2011, Greater Miami and the Beaches showed an increase of +6.0%in room rate vs. 2010, ranking #2 among the Top 25 U.S.markets inAverage Daily Room Rate at $171.51.However,Occupancy decreased by - 0.8%due primarily to the severe weather/blizzard conditions impacting air travel fromthe Northeast andMidwest in early January. Despite the severe winter weather conditions in their feeder markets, Miami ranked #2 in Occupancy at 74.5% among the Top 25 Markets in the U.S. Smith Travel Research compares the top markets in the United States based onOccupancy andAverageDaily RoomRate (ADR). Average Daily Room Rate January 2011 TOP U.S MARKETS: $ –%Change vs. 2010 #1. New York $195.17 #3. Oahu Island $162.21 #2. Miami $171.51 #4. San Francisco $142.68 #5. Washington $131.96 +6.0% +4.0% +8.9% +11.9% -0.4% ROOMS IN 2010 THAN EVER BEFORE Traffic to Visit PA Spikes, Social Media Soars, Public Relations EffortsWorking PENNSYLVANIA SELLS MORE HOTEL The Pennsylvania tourismindustry has rebounded fromthe decline experienced in 2008 and is reporting a new record of 27.5 million hotel rooms sold in 2010, the Pennsylvania TourismOffice announced recently. “We are back and seeing an increase in roomnights sold in every region of the state,” said Mickey Rowley, deputy secre- tary for tourism. “We are also seeing the returns from our growing conversation with travelers via our visitPA social media machine as well as a public which is escaping from fru- gal fatigue.” According to data from Smith Travel Research, the record sales of hotel rooms has generated $2.8 billion in roomrevenue and supported $165million in hotel occupancy taxes. “Unlike property taxes, the hotel tax is paid by someone else yet levied, collected and invested locally,” Rowley said. “These dollars are, in most cases, used to support marketing while our efforts to encourage counties and regions to partner seemto be paying dividends.” Pennsylvania’s tourism website, visitPA.com, also posted a record year with 2 million visitors,which is 500,000 more than in 2009; a 34-percent increase. These visitors accounted for more than 8.3million page views. “Beginning in 2009, we concentrated all of our marketing resources into online advertising in an effort to bringmore eyes to visitPA.com,which is our strongest andmost robust resource for inspiring potential travelers,” said Rose Mape, executive director of tourism marketing. “We also used targeted online media buys to more than double our Facebook audience and to expand our socialmedia real estate.” As a result of public relations outreach by the Pennsylvania Hotel Occupancy January 2011 TOP U.S MARKETS:%–%Change vs. 2010 #1. Oahu Island 80.9% #3. San Francisco 65.5% #2. Miami 74.5% #4. Los Angeles 65.1% #5. New York 64.0% +11.9% -0.8% +11.2% +5.7% +0.5% Tourism Office multiple stories appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Additional coverage included National Geographic, Newsday, and the Rachel Ray Show. “Maximizing our relationships with travel writers, updating our 5,000 followers onTwitter, and the journalists who accept- ed our invitation to explore Pennsylvania have proven to be effective,” said Rowley. “Our public relations efforts have secured $27.7million in unpaidmedia for the commonwealth.” Formore information,go to visitPA.comor call (800)VISIT PA;become a fan at facebook.com/visitPA, followthemat twit- ter.com/visitPA, share photos at flickr.-com/visitPA, friend them at foursquare.com/visitPA, or watch them on youtube.com/visitPA. Black Meetings & Tourism March/April 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 55 Photo Credit: Greater Miami CVB