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0 1 each year since � `"
Z• ! the 9/11 attacks. 4x x 'r - .'" -"
Miami Dade saw a —Y
° slide but began to I
w recover in 2003.
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Source:Convention and NEW LOOK: The Cavalier hotel is updating its image. At left, Flor Rivas hangs up new curtains while Herman Arsenian sets up
Visitor Bureaus for and restaurant. The hotel, also pictured in the far left bottom photo, is located at 1320 Ocean Dr. in Miami Beach.
both counties
�. The South Florida tourism industry has largely bounced
...411 back from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but the impact remains.
The number of international tourists has decreased; rates are lower t
I hoteliers would like, and travelers are demanding online bargains
1 rstoryThis is the of one small hog
attempt to reinvent itself post c
[ . ' .
OCCUPANCY
MIAMI-DADE BROWARD
1 2001 2004 Change 2001 2004 Change STORY $Y DOUGLAS HANKS 111
JAN. 75.9 69.7 -8.17% 74.5 74.6 0.13%
_,, M., : FEB. 80.6 80.7 0.12% 87.8 88.2 0.46%
s^" MARCH 82.2 80.1 -2.55% 81.9 84.5 3.17%
•
:,r,:
APRIL 71.5 73.8 3.22% 74.7 78.1 4.55%
MAY 63.6 66.9 5.19% 68.7 68.8 0.15% emon Danishes never mat- staff to lay out a morning spread
ex- JUNE 61 67.4 10.49% 65.9 69.3 5.16% tered at the Cavalier Hotel. of orange juice, bread, coffee,
4
Then terrorists attacked the croissants and Danishes on the
`- ° ROOM RATES World Trade Center and Penta- bar for the first time last week.
gon on Sept. 11, 2001, tourism Abravaya has converted much
dried up in South Florida, and of his lobby and outside patio into
hotels like the Cavalier found
'•'' a nouvelle cuisine restaurant in an
2001 2004 Change 2001 2004 Change
. . .., . their business plans upended. effort to attract some local dollars
` JAN. $138.57 $132.43 -4.43% $108.26 $103.31 -4.57% The attacks and the economic to his bottom line,the kind of rev-
4 - FEB. $149.03 $146.69 -1.57% $117.62 $114.74 -2.45% fallout that followed prompted a enue that supported other hotels
�„ MARCH $138.56 $140.29 1.25% $113.44 $113.18 0.23% sharp drop-off in European visi- during the dark days following
. tors, a key component of South 9/11.
- APRIL $120.54 $125.28 3.93% $98.99 $101.13 2.16% Florida's $17 billion tourism The custom-built bar,painted
,t s MAY $107.96 $111.20 3.00% $82.70 $89.57 8.31% industry. red and black, dominates the far
JUNE $94.05 $111.38 18.43% $74.07 $89.70 2110%11
The loss hit particularly hard end of his high-ceilinged lobby,
at the Cavalier, where European and Abravaya hopes the extra will
0041'.
REVENUE PER AVAILABLE ROOM tour operators used to buy up help the Cavalier stand out on
about one of every four of the Expedia, Travelocity and the
South Beach hotsl's-45 rooms. other websites that rose to promi-
2001 2004 Change 2001 2004 Change Those tour operators still sell- nence during the downturn and
JAN. $105.14 $92.35 -12.16% $80.62 $77.07 -4.40% ing trips to South Florida after retain their hold on the industry.
9/11 found themselves flush with "Let me tell you,I have learned
FEB. $120.07 $118.44 -1.36% $103.25 $101.22 -1.97% options,and most opted for hotels so much,"the 54-year-old former
MARCH $113.85 $112.33 -1.34% $92.91 $95.68 2.98% with free breakfasts. But the Cav- Air Force transport pilot said of
APRIL $86.14 $92.41 7.28% $73.94 $78.98 6.82% alier didn't even have a kitchen. his two years in South Florida's
"A continental breakfast. It hotel business. "It looked a lot
MAY $68.69 $74.45 8.39% $56.80 $61.62 8.49% shouldn't be that big of a deal," easier and simpler from the out-
wv.
JUNE $57.36 $75.10 30.93% $48.82 $62.19 27.39% owner Ralph Abravaya said. He side."
SOURCE:Smith Travel pointed to weekends where his
> competitors with free doughnuts °A continental breakfast.
were sold out and his hotel-fac-
ing the Atlantic on Ocean Drive It shouldn't be that big of
-was half empty."But it's gotten
very competitive, I guess." a deal. But it's gotten
y. STRONG YEAR very competitive'
This year South Florida hotels
-RALPH ABRAVAYA,
have posted one of the strongest Cavalier Hotel owner
s _ performances in the country,but
the Cavalier has yet to share in The boutique hotel's slog
�Y.i ''' ' k f.' ''``.: 'T. -'' .' the region's celebrated recoverythrough the nearlythree
�,, .: 4 �l �, ,, ...�� � i "`� . .� g g years
,� as a travel destination. that have passed since Sept. 11,
1 ^ CA, *,,,t, Where other hotels are report- 2001, offers an examination in
�y'�' '; _ d. '4' s. ing record summer occupancies, miniature of how the terrorist
--- +'" �- , the Cavalier is filling onlyhalf its attacks reshaped the region's No.
P g
)ELY/HERALD STAFF ..mss„„ i► rooms. And Abravaya said that's 1 industry. And the Cavalier's
`
, mainly because until now the strategy for turning things around
new bar R ;
Cavalier hasn't done much to - free Danishes and all - high-
: „% - -,---,_ 4.,
change since Sept. 11, 2001. lights key components of the
I \. .1 v While hotels across the region industry's unfolding comeback,
" Q have repositioned themselves to and how much the economics of
ti
�` .' chase other markets, squeezed travel have changed since Sept.11,
` te �a �. dollars out of new profit centers 2001. g
it.:4,,e4'. ..
'{ �t° , ;� ; " . and generally enjoyed the fruits of Nearly all of the Cavalier's
`9 r : a recently rebounded industry, changes lead back,one way or the
E, '. 1i. " the Cavalier's recovery plan is other, to South Florida's loss of
R - - just beginning. international tourists over the
�n , �4 ;jirt
t '"` The Cavalier recently corn- past three years. Overnight visi
-
In 1.S. 1{$ r t pleted nearly$1.5 million in reno- tors to Broward and Miami-Dade
j �' r t vations to the 1936 Art Deco hotel. from Europe and Latin America
' The upgrades include a new dropped 13 percent from 2000 to
1 PP
°< kitchen that allowed the Cavalier 2003 as travel worries, post-9/11
? ' /S s J 14.:.° ,< ---_'1..0; ;
# visa hassles and a sharpeconomic
x$.,L • t IJ
t STAFF§ ! READY FOR BUSINESS: At left, can countries kept travelers away.
° v, P
,. � lxyg The shift was
,i ■ K 4� y Flor Rivas, who will run the especially hard
=" . , Cavalier hotel restaurant with for the many South Florida hotels
her husband, Pablo, sets up
'TURN TO HOTELS,24
tables at the hotel.
I
COVER STORY 25
a-
o
o
Domestic travelers boost ar tourism
N
•HOTELS,FROM 24 —__.._-- ...,..,5„,„..,,,,y,-,---- }
; .• �' 1 thinit you can make
Z
U.S. trips to Europe, with , _ a very strong case that 0
many vacationers seeing '
Miami as exotic and faraway * l ,� there has been an o
enough for them. And Fort 4.4 —
Lauderdale's rise as a hub of "" P ; k,_ upside-story for South o
low-cost carriers like Jet Blue L: _ 6Florida in the wake of • w
and Southwest has meshed i �"W' ` 0 AK W
perfectly with the bargain- tt. ° 911. Because F
hunting ways during the eco- . .
nomic slowdown that fol- r . I e AmerlCarlS are
E
lowed Sept. 11, 2001. "`"' :Ili....
travelingcloser to °
"I think you can make a 1 -6
very strong case that there ,a home, they're looking ! r
has been an upside-story for P ,
South Florida in the wake of t '�' als r ! ' for deals.' 3
9/11," said Scott Berman, a ' 3
hotel analyst with Pricewater- rt.' —SCOTT BERMAN,
houseCoopers in Miami.
k' a hotel analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers
"Because Americans are trav-
eling closer to home, they're `'`"
looking for deals." last year it hauled 130 truck-
BETTER THAN 2001 loads of white sand from
CHUCK FADELY/HERALD STAFF Orlando to create a beach on
Monthly occupancy rates its bayfront property, where
in South Florida hotels sur- ADDING ATTRACTIONS: To improve the appeal of his Cavalier Hotel in Miami Beach,
owner Ralphguests are offered Thai mas-
passed 2001 levels in all but Abravaya is installing a bar and restaurant. sages in gazebos ($160 an
two months this year, posting hour) and waiters serve Thai
a 10 percent increase in ? - "oz _ keep the doors open," said Sunrises, a rum-and-orange-
Miami-Dade for June and a 5 F £ - ^�- Scott Brush, a hotel consul- juice concoction served in
percent gain in Broward. "-* '�"-}•. . . "'"4t"--*---4-:-....,', : tant in Miami. "That still hollowed-out coconuts ($12).
Rates continue to lag,analysts • « .. • - hasn't recovered yet." At the Cavalier, Abravaya
and hotel executives say, w. I. >w Faced with lower rates,
w f• ,: ., ► has no room for a spa. His
though recent months have ,
,'� .� ,.., hotels did what they could to front desk sits just a few steps
shown considerable strength. ;° _ squeeze more revenue out of away from the new bar,which
Revenue per available room,a , : g . their operations. The Ritz- is just across from the sleek
keyindustrybarometer, shot
' ' : Carlton Key Biscayne con- high-backed white leather
up about 30 percent in June verted a dressing room in its couches brought in for Lotus,
for both markets when com- p� ; • spa into a private pedicure the restaurant scheduled to
pared to 2001. Kms- booth,and it now charges$40 open Sept.1 with 20 tables on
The figures have cheered -4 �. �- on top of the usual $55 treat- the sidewalk and-another 21
operators and analysts, but .1, ''
P Y ���. �� `. ment to have it done behind inside.
not Abravaya. What was a ., - w` closed doors. (Sipping on a
$150 room at the Cavalier now BOBEIGHMIE/HERALD STAFF champagne cocktail during RENTING THE SPACE
rents for about$100,and even BROWARD SUCCESS: The Sheraton Yankee Trader in Fort the session is free; having a Abravaya has brought on a
that hasn't boosted the year's Lauderdale bustles with business. Broward has actually special champagne scrub on couple,Pablo and Flor Rivas,
occupancy above 50 percent. your feet costs an extra$10.) to run Lotus. They pay a flat
Left with almost no foreign gained visitors since 9/11, in part because it attracts a monthly rent of$15,000 and
guests,the Cavalier has joined higher proportion of domestic travelers. WEEKEND GETAWAYS keep the profits.The couple's
much of the region's hotel In fact,spas have emerged contract requires them to
industry in pursuing domestic the dot-com discount." lier's Web page,where profit as a potent weapon in the serve a continental breakfast
visitors with new vigor.Much Fewer than 1,200 room margins are much higher. post-9/11 years for hotels each morning.
of that involved turning to nights at the Clipper hotel Most hotels have adopted looking to attract local dol- The Lotus and the Cavalier
websites like Expedia.com, were sold through sites like similar—if better financed— lars.Most of the large resorts will split the profits at the bar.
which were flooded after 9/11 Expedia in 2001, Sparacino strategies,largely by reducing promoted weekend getaways Abravaya sees the bar as the
with discounted rooms from said. By the end of 2004, he the number of discounted as more travelers looked for kind of extra that will spur
hotels hoping to snag travel- expects that number to soar rooms they turn over to the short drives — rather than online browsers to pick his
ers looking for bargains. to 16,000. travel sites. Hotel executives long flights — for their vaca- hotel when it pops up on
With the ' industry The online frenzy — say their rooms often are tions. Expedia,and one that should
rebounding,hotels are trying helped along by the broader cheaper on their own sites The promotions also dove- appeal to bargain-hunting
to break the Expedia habit and rise in Internet shopping — than on wholesaler sites, a tailed with many hotels'sharp tour operators. Guests will be
draw guests back to their own has left the Cavalier feeling shift that helped contribute to drop-off in corporate book- invited to daily Happy Hours
reservation systems, where largely unnoticed. a 24-percent drop in profits in ings as companies cut back on with complimentary cocktails
profit margins are higher. the second quarter for Expe- travel budgets and large — the kind of freebie he
"To take that inventory SEEKING STARS dia's parent company, Inter- groups canceled conferences hopes will allow him to
back from the dot-corn indus- The Cavalier has only mer- ActiveCorp. and meetings. increase rates.
try is very difficult," said ited two stars on the Expedia The backlash against Expe- After watching its corpo- "Let's be realistic.A bottle
Brian Sparacino, vice presi- site, forcing it to compete dia is part of the hotel indus- rate guests drop from 80 per- of vodka when you buy it at
dent of sales and marketing with bargain hotels.Abravaya try's ongoing campaign to cent of its business to 50 per- wholesale costs $6. How
for Gill Hotels, which owns hopes the new restaurant and move rates back to where cent, the Mandarin Oriental much can one person drink?"
Fort Lauderdale's Yankee bar will give him an extra star they were before the 2001 Miami realized it needed to he said. "For $3 worth of
Clipper and Yankee Trader. on the site.And he's hired an attacks. push the resort in the heart of drinks a day,I can charge a lit-
"The traveler that called the Internet consultant to try and "Everybody discounted the city's financial district as a tle bit more rent and get some
1-800 number has migrated to drive more traffic to the Cava- like crazy after 9/11 just to vacation destination too. So guests in the door."