1663-24 Art Deco/Preservation THU APR 16 1992 ED: FINAL
SECTION: NEIGHBORS NE PAGE: 10 LENGTH: 14 .24" MEDIUM
ILLUST:
SOURCE: DAVID KIDWELL Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO:
BEACH WAS A WINTER WONDERLAND FOR TOURISM
Despite a nationwide recession and lagging convention bookings, Miami
Beach had the best winter tourist season in recent memory -- spurred by a
booming fashion and film industry and the spiraling popularity of South Beach.
Taxes collected on hotel rooms and restaurant bills reached all-time
highs, as did permits for fashion photography and film productions.
And foreign visitors took advantage of favorable currency exchange rates
to flock to Ocean Drive, billed overseas as the new American Riviera.
"It was a very strong winter season, " said Stu Blumberg, executive
director of the Miami Beach Resort Hotel Association. "Things tailed off a
little bit in March in the typical lull between the boat show and Easter, but
if you try to find a room now it might be difficult. "
The association represents 55 hotels with 12 , 000 rooms.
Resort taxes collected throughout Miami Beach for February hit an all-
time high at $755, 604 , up 9 . 1 percent from the previous year, records show.
The previous record month was January, at $754 , 816, up 14 . 1 percent from
last year.
From September through March, film production companies took out 1, 463
permits, for estimated production budgets of more than $40 million. The same
period last year saw 1, 170 permits at $34 . 1 million in estimated budgets.
Among the productions filmed in the beach: beer commercials and a Kevin
Costner movie filmed last month at the Fontainebleau Hilton.
"And it ' s still going strong, " said Robert Reboso, the Beach staffer who
issues the permits. "We ' re doing really good, and budgets are increasing
again. "
Hoteliers and tourism officials credit several factors for Miami Beach' s
success in a year when most U.S. destinations have been sluggish: Its
convenient location to Latin and South America, worldwide publicity about
South Beach' s renaissance, and a burgeoning fashion industry.
In addition, Miami Beach -- always popular among Europeans and other
foreign visitors -- is benefiting from a currency exchange rate that has
encouraged a large influx of foreign travelers.
This year promises to be the first year in Dade County history in which
foreign tourists outnumber U.S . visitors, according to projections from the
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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