Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/910090
B M & T ••• September/October 2017 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 42 The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area saw 32.5 million total visitors in 2016, a 2.8 percent increase over 2015's 31.6 million con- vention and leisure travel visitors, which is a new all-time record for the area. Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association , announced recently that a study conducted by DKShifflet shows that both the number of visi- tors and visitor spending increased yet again in 2016. Those visitors spent $7.6 billion in the area, an i ncrease of 1 percent over 2015, when spend- ing was $7.5 billion. The number of leisure visi- tors alone increased 4 percent to 23.4 million in 2016 from 22.5 million in 2015, with their spending increasing to $5.3 billion, or almost 2 percent over $5.2 billion spent in 2015. Full details are available online at http://www.min - n e a p o l i s . o r g / m e d i a / f a c t s - a n d - research/research under "Visitor Count." "I sound like a broken record, but it's all true: Minneapolis continues to set all-time hospitali- ty records," said Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. "Travel and related spending continue to increase in our own community, just as it is across the nation, where travel is one of America's strongest industries." Travel and tourism generates $2.3 trillion for the U.S. economy. National Travel & Tourism Week gives the industry an op portunity to shine a light on what travel means to jobs, economic growth and per- sonal well being. Travel employs a prosperous and diverse workforce, from airline and hotel employees to restaurant, attraction and retail workers, and supports related sectors such as construction, manufacturing and finance. "Travel supports one in nine American jobs, including 34,870 jobs right here in the city of Minneapolis, or 10 percent of the local workforce," said Tennant. "This w eek, we are celebrating these workers and what travel means to our community." Meet Minneapolis celebrated with other tourism organizations nationally by conducting a program for partners that included education- al information for the summer convention sea- son, including July's X Games, updates on the Tourism Master Plan and a tour of some key tourism sites in the city. The program will also include an update on the Tourism Master Plan. The Tourism Master Plan includes multiple goals to enhance Minneapolis' tourism economy. It includes a goal of 50 million visitors by 2030 and support of 40,000 hospitality-related jobs. T R AV E L DATA MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL METROPOLITAN AREA VISITED BY 32.5 MILLION IN 2016, A NEW ALL-TIME RECORD Meet Minneapolis-Commissioned Study Shows Increased Visitor Counts and Spending as IndustryCelebrates National Travel & Tourism Week MIAMI AMONG TOP 25 MARKETS: JAN - JULY 2017 For January - July 2017, hotel rooms sold in Greater Miami and The Beaches increased by +4.6 % compared to the same time in 2016. During this same time, hotel room inventory increased by +4.5%.Hotel room occupancy reached 79.2 %, achieving the same level as the previous year. ADR and RevPAR both decreased by - 4.1%. During January - July 2017, Greater Miami's hotel market ranked among the top five in the Top 25 Hotel Markets in the U.S. as reported by Smith Travel Research. Greater Miami and The Beaches continues to be impacted by global economies, the Miami Beach Convention Center expansion and renovation, an increase in hotel room inventory, and other factors including alter- native accommodations.