1615-11 Various Miami Beach PRT
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mh TWO HOTEL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS TO MERGE 09/13/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 65 lines
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: ANTHONY FAIOLA Herald Business Writer
TWO HOTEL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS TO MERGE
GROUPS SEEK STRENGTH
IN BIGGER NUMBERS
In an attempt to dramatically boost the hospitality industry's influence
in South Florida, the two largest hotel trade associations in Dade County are
merging.
The merging groups: The 24-year old Miami Beach Resort Hotel Association
and the 77-year old Greater Miami Hotel and Motel Association.
Their new name as of Oct. 1: The Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel
Association. It will be a formidable hospitality industry powerhouse, with 100
member hotels representing 30,000 hotel rooms in Dade County. The group will
have an annual budget topping $300,000 a year.
"The problems we're all facing in the industry are bigger than any one of
us, " said Rick Hancock, general manager of the Biscayne Bay Marriott and
chairman of the new group.
"The quickest way we're going to start problem-solving is to work
together," Hancock said. "We already had the same goals; now we're just united
in achieving them. "
Merger talks occurred sporadically throughout the past five years. But
the deal came together amid concerns about the future of Dade tourism.
Image problems continue to plague the entire state, causing a drop in
visitors and forcing many hotels to cut their rates.
The most recent data from the Florida Department of Commerce indicate
that tourism in June was essentially flat statewide, with a 0.1 percent
increase; preliminary July figures show a 0.4 percent decrease. Overall, the
state predicts a minimum 5 percent drop in visitors to Florida during 1994.
In large part, the new union in Dade is a move toward creating a single
front to win back tourists.
In the past, the long-established Miami Beach Resort Hotel Association
and the Greater Miami Hotel and Motel Association both existed to promote the
hotel industry in Dade -- be it through behind-the-scenes conferences in
corporate board rooms or during public hearings in city halls throughout Dade.
Each also maintained its own programs and services, including training
classes for new hotel employees and national reservation hotlines for
membership hotels.
Many major hotels paid annual dues to both groups, but traditionally, the
beach association focused on properties in Miami Beach, while the Greater
Miami association focused on properties in mainland Dade County. Now, that
will change.
"There are issues that need to be addressed, including crime, levels of
service and quality in our hotels, " said Eric Jacobs, chairman of the Miami
Beach Resort Hotel Association, who becomes chairman-elect of the merged
group. "We need to stop being parochial about how we deal with those issues.
They affect all of us."
Hancock, president of the Greater Miami association -- the larger of the
two groups -- will assume the leading role in the merged association. Stu
Blumberg, a former Miami Beach hotelier and president of the Miami Beach
Resort Hotel Association, will take over the top administrative job of the
united organization, Hancock said.
Sherman Winn, former Dade County Commissioner and executive director of
the Greater Miami Hotel Association, will be offered an as-yet undetermined
position with the new association, Hancock said. Winn didn't return three
calls from The Herald on Monday.
The boards of the two groups will also merge. Included in the new
33-member board of directors for the new organization are some of the most
established names in Dade tourism, including JoAnn Bass, president of Joe's
Stone Crab, and Sunny Isles hotels owner Victor Farkas.
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