Seatrade global cruise event leaving Miami Beach for Fort Lauderdale in 2023
Seatrade Cruise Global, the cruising industry’s largest conference with over 30 years of history in Miami Beach, will move north to Fort Lauderdale for next year’s event.
The annual conference is set for March 27-30, 2023, at the Broward County Convention Center.
Chiara Giorgi, Seatrade’s event director, said the conference was going to be held in Miami Beach May 1-4 at the Miami Beach Convention Center, then difficulties arose securing a sufficient number of hotel rooms at a reasonable price.
In a prepared statement, Seatrade said the change of date and venue alleviates challenges that “may have emerged from sharing Miami Beach with the 2023 Formula One Grand Prix event.”
The Miami Grand Prix is held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, which is equidistant from either convention center. The dates for the 2023 racing event haven’t yet been determined, according to Formula One’s website.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said that although Seatrade conference organizers moved it for 2023 due to concerns over reasonable hotel rates around the same time as Formula One, the cruising sector’s global industry event will return to Miami Beach “in 2024 and beyond.”
Giorgi confirmed the venue shift to Fort Lauderdale was just for next year and then the conference would return to Miami Beach. It’s been held at the Beach annually since 1987 — with the exception of 2016 to 2019 when it also took place in Fort Lauderdale while the Miami Beach Convention Center was renovated. In a video detailing the conference’s history, Seatrade calls Miami its “spiritual home.”
Still, Seatrade’s absence for even a year will deliver a blow to Miami-Dade County tourism. The annual conference draws 10,000 attendees who spend plenty of money on lodging, meals and travel.
The tourism sector has been booming since pandemic lockdowns were lifted in 2021. With the surging demand, hotel prices have skyrocketed, making Miami an increasingly unaffordable and luxury destination.
Visitors to Miami Beach, for example, are hard-pressed to find a hotel room near the convention center for less than $300 a night during weekends of big events or holidays. To help increase the supply of hotel rooms, an 800-room Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel is under construction and set to open in late 2025.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated the expected opening of the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel. It’s late 2025.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 6:53 PM.
