College football championship gives much needed bump to Miami hotel occupancy

Miami hotels just had one of their most successful weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Average occupancy rates for the Miami market hit 51.4% for the week of January 3-9, boosted by the College Football Championship held at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday, according to hospitality analysis firm STR.

Football week was the second time that local hotel occupancy hit above 50% since mid-March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out reservations. The most successful week was Dec. 27-Jan. 2, when occupancy reached 69.2%, according to STR.

The lift from the football game, the largest citywide event held in Miami since last spring, met the expectations of local hoteliers, who had hoped for a much-needed bump.

Large group and conference business is expected to lag other types of travel as COVID-19 cases continue to surge and vaccine rollout remains slow.

Taylor Dolven

Miami Herald

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Taylor Dolven is a business journalist who has covered the tourism industry at the Miami Herald since 2018. Her reporting has uncovered environmental violations of cruise companies, the impact of vacation rentals on affordable housing supply, safety concerns among pilots at MIA’s largest cargo airline and the hotel industry’s efforts to delay a law meant to protect workers from sexual harassment.