14 REGION AMERICAS The
14 REGION AMERICAS The “On Switch” for the USA’s Tourism Dynamo “Miami Bill” – a grand figure in US tourism – gives ITB Berlin News the lowdown on why the importance of Miami continues to grow – as a destination, a gateway, and the world’s number one cruise port. What characterizes Miami in the market? 48% of our tourism customers are non-US, and in spending terms, that rises to 70%. Main feeder countries are Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, Germany and the UK. We are the undisputed cruise capital of the world. We recently had seven ships arriving over eight weeks in Port Miami, a new record. 80% of our visitors are here on vacation. We are one of the first international gateways into the USA, so a lot of people come here, stay here, go other places, like Orlando, or other destinations then they may come back again. Over the past years, and even now, the airlines, in particular American ITB BERLIN NEWS • Saturday 9 th March 2013 Airlines, are continuing to add flights, frequencies and cities… it’s been incredible. 97% of our visitors come by air; we’re like an island, in that we are totally dependent on the airlines. So to have this significant growth is great. We now have services from Moscow and Portugal, and more and more from the South. Everybody thinks the limiting factor at an airport is the gates, but of course it is the runways, and here in Miami, we have four. We just opened the North Terminal with 60 gates, and while capacity is not unlimited, we can still take a lot more. We are one of just a few places in the US that can accommodate the A380 Airbus, and Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt with a 48% of our tourism customers are non-US, and in spending terms, that rises to 70%. William D. Talbert III CDME, President and CEO, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau With floor to ceiling picture windows, the office of William D. Talbert III, CDME, President and CEO, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau on Brickell avenue in downtown Miami has a 180-degree hawks-nest view over the cruise port and the city. ITB Berlin News editor-in-chief Richard Barnes met with he who is known more affectionately in international circles as “Miami Bill” – a major figure on the US tourism scene – highly active in moving forward initiatives such as Brand USA and a Visa Waiver program for South American nations, in particular Brazil. daily A380 service. If you had a simple message for the trade visitors and press today at ITB Berlin, what would it be? We have a brand new airport with a heavy rail connector to downtown, new hotels downtown, new cultural facilities, such as the soon-to-open Perez Miami art museum, or the New World Symphony, designed by Frank Gehry on Miami beach, that opened last year. What is really newsworthy is this new downtown – on the bay. It’s important for your readers to understand that while Miami Beach is on the water, I’m convinced a lot of the world doesn’t know that downtown Miami is also on the water – on the bay. We are the only place in the States with two National Parks. Our new downtown is most exciting and includes the number one cruise port in the world…all of this nestled in a wonderful tropical environment! We are a year-round outdoor destination and a global community for major events. Major Changes to Visa Issue – Visa Waiver for South America? Visas have been a big issue with Brazil – Florida’s number one feeder zone. As Chair of the US travel Brazil committee, we asked Bill Talbert how this is evolving. Today, in the four US consulates in key cities in Brazil, the average wait time for a three-minute interview is two days. A year ago at this time, it was over a hundred days. Who’s going to wait that long? Would you? But by working with the United States government and saying how important Brazil was to Miami, Florida and indeed the United States, our government redeployed resources to reduce the waiting time. I never thought visa wait times would fall that quickly, but now in some cases, people are even getting their interview and visa on the same day they applied! It’s not visa waiver, but it’s a lot better than waiting three or four months, and I have to thank the administration for that. Is there a point where there will be a visa waiver program? I’m glad you asked that! We are spearheading a program, started by the Brazilians with our own version that talks about jobs, to get visa waiver. There is not a single country in South America that is in Visa Waiver. Brazil has two big events coming up, and they want us down there, and we want them up here spending money and supporting jobs… There has been a task force formed, and I’m confident that within the next year it is going to happen. Everyone talks about jobs, and this is the easiest “low hanging fruit” to generate jobs. To this end, the President, on January 19th, 2012 in Orlando, announced that his intention was that the United States be number one in tourism, and that we get visa waiver for countries like Brazil. We have been told by the Brazilian tourism association that within a year in Miami, our 600,000 Brazilians could double, and the one-point-three billion expenditure would thus grow to two-point-six billion. We estimate, given the industry standards, that this will result in 14,700 new fulltime jobs in Miami alone. Hall 2.1 www.itb-berlin-news.com
Hall 2.1 AMERICAS REGION 15 ADVERTORIAL © Cleverdis Key West Gets “Hooked Up” Flights from New Orleans debut today following new links with Washington D.C. and NYC Key West Museum Showcasing Remote Dry Tortugas National Park Debuts A museum depicting the natural and historic resources of Dry Tortugas National Park and historic Fort Jefferson has opened in Key West, offering visitors an easily accessible introduction to one of America’s most remote national parks. Key West, Florida is becoming easier to access, as airlines announce new routes to the United States’ southern-most isle. Key West is actually closer to Havana, Cuba than it is to the mainland of the USA, and has an incredibly rich history. In 1890, the city of Key West was the biggest and richest in all of Florida, and over the years, the island has boasted famous residents such as Tennessee Williams and Ernest Hemingway. This history, the beautiful colonial public buildings and houses and lush tropical vegetation have made the island, linked by a bridge system over the Florida Keys to Miami (just a few hours’ drive), a favourite holiday stopover for many people visiting Southern Florida. This popularity has now spurred two major commercial air carriers to begin a nonstop seasonal service between Key West and both New York City and Washington D.C. Indeed, water-squirting fire trucks, a red carpet and a man blowing a conch shell greeted passengers stepping off the inaugural Delta Airlines and U.S. Airways flights last December at Key West The 1,211- mile flight is the longest commercial route ever to serve Key West International Airport. Delta Airlines offers direct flights from New York’s LaGuardia Airport each Saturday from March 2 through April 6. The 1,211-mile flight is the longest commercial route ever to serve Key West, Keys airport officials said. Direct U.S. Airways flights from Washington’s Reagan National Airport began Jan. 5, and continue each Saturday through April. Southwest Airlines is to begin daily service between New Orleans and Key West today, March 9. The airport also achieved pointof-entry status to Cuba from US federal officials last year, which permits it to stage flights directly to and from the island nation that Ernest Hemingway’s Key West home is a major attraction for tourists lies just 90 miles south of Key West. Officials at one South Florida-based company, Golden Air Charters, say it has plans to begin charter service from Key West to Cuba this year. [by Richard Barnes] Key West visitor information: www.fla-keys.com/keywest or 1-800-FLA-KEYS Hall 2.1 © Cleverdis The Dry Tortugas and Key West Bight Interpretive Center is located at 240 Margaret St. on the Key West Bight, a natural deep-water harbor on the island’s Gulf of Mexico side. The free-admission museum also spotlights the culturally rich history of the bight. Dry Tortugas National Park, lying approximately 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, is made up of seven tiny coral-and-sand islands. It includes Fort Jefferson, one of the largest brick structures in the Western Hemisphere, on which construction began in 1846. During the Civil War Fort Jefferson served as a Union military prison for captured deserters and others. The center’s opening is among several Florida Keys events celebrating the 500 th anniversary of the discovery of Florida and the Keys island chain. Adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted the Keys May 15, 1513, according to Spanish chronicler Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas. Later, June 21, de Leon and his shipmates discovered a group of islands they named Las Tortugas (The Turtles) for the scores of sea turtles they harvested there. Museum exhibits include a model of Fort Jefferson in the late 1800s and an interactive photo mural telling the history of the Seaport. © Carol Tedesco/Florida Keys News Bureau ITB BERLIN NEWS • Saturday 9 th March 2013
