Tourism & Cruises
Business conferences set for Miami cancel amid coronavirus spread
Miami tourism providers are starting to feel a pinch as cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, continue to pop up in the U.S.
Companies began canceling business meetings and conferences after state health officials confirmed two coronavirus cases in Florida Sunday. The move follows a wave of cancellations worldwide, including Art Basel’s Hong Kong fair and ITB, a mammoth travel industry meeting set this month for Berlin. In the U.S., Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference in San Jose, California in May, is among the casualties; it was expected to draw 5,000 people.
In Miami Beach, about 2,300 people, including some locals, who had planned to attend a customer service software conference this week will be staying home after the San Francisco company, Zendesk, announced Monday that the meeting was canceled. Smaller groups are canceling or postponing their meetings at Miami hotels for May or June, say hoteliers, hoping the coronavirus outbreak will have subsided. And American Airlines suspended its daily service between Miami International Airport and Milan as of Monday.
So far there are two confirmed cases in Florida of the novel coronavirus, one in Manatee County and one in Hillsborough County. In Washington state, six people have died from the disease. On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he predicted more positive cases in Florida shortly.
Those cases make it harder for the Miami tourism industry to keep March business meetings and conferences on the calendar during peak travel season. During the week of February 16-22, before cases were reported in Florida, the Miami-Dade occupancy rate increased more than 2% compared to the same week the year before, according to the latest hotel occupancy data available from STR.
The three-day Zendesk conference, called Relate, was planned for the Miami Beach Convention Center and nearby hotels on March 3-5. The company’s decision to cancel marks the largest meeting loss in Miami since the coronavirus outbreak began to spread from its origin in Hubei province, China earlier this year, according to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. The loss is about 2,700 hotel nights.
“The decision to cancel Relate was extremely difficult as we have been looking forward to hosting our customers and partners and showcasing our latest innovations in Miami — a city that has welcomed us with open arms and tremendous kindness and service,” said a Zendesk company spokesperson via email. Zendesk said it plans to hold its 2021 conference in Miami.
At the 650-room InterContinental hotel in downtown Miami, director of sales and marketing Mike Kovensky expects the hotel’s occupancy rate for March will be lower than in previous years. Meetings there range from 20 attendees to around 400. A handful of businesses have postponed their March and April conferences to May or June, he said.
“The biggest concern is, does it spread more?” said Kovensky. “How many more cases and where?”
The case count in Florida is top of mind for the Colorado-based Medical Affairs Professional Society, a group of pharmaceutical industry representatives slated for March 9-11, at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The group is expecting 660 attendees who will stay at the SLS South Beach, the Shelborne South Beach and the The Gates Hotel South Beach.
A few attendees from Japan and Italy canceled their trips for the conference last week, said the group’s CEO, Travis Hege, but most conference-goers are still planning to come. On Sunday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased the travel advisories for Italy and South Korea, warning U.S. citizens against non-essential travel.
“Any deaths in Florida or outbreak in Florida is the biggest thing we are monitoring,” Hege said. “We’re continuing to monitor the latest developments. Otherwise, we will be proceeding as planned.”
The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau classifies the Zendesk conference as medium sized. Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer for the CVB, said he is in touch with the largest conference on the horizon, the cruise industry’s Seatrade, scheduled for April 20-23. For now, the group says it will continue with the conference.
“There has been an impact, we’re gauging the expense of it,” Aedo said. “The vast majority of the business is continuing on.”
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