Miami Expands its Event Offerings as Destination Grows

Author: Sarah Beauchamp       

When the stock market crashed in 2008, Miami was one of the destinations hit the hardest by the recession. A decade later, the city is unrecognizable.

It’s been able not only to bounce back from the financial crisis, but Miami currently is undergoing a major expansion, as more event venues and innovative meeting spaces are added to the upgraded cityscape. Even Amazon is eyeing the destination as a potential new headquarters.

And one of the most connected hotels in the South Florida city is Hyatt Regency Miami, which is connected to the convention center and boasts the largest event space in downtown, with 100,000 square feet of total space.

Adding to the city’s unique venues in 2018 is a brand-new cruise ship terminal for Royal Caribbean, which broke ground at Port of Miami last year. Terminal A will be completed in October 2018 and, once completed, the LEED-certified property will accommodate a 1,300-foot ship. The Port of Miami is less than two miles away from the Hyatt Regency Miami.

Now it’s easier than ever for business travelers to move around in downtown Miami, as the city develops new transportation options. The Brightline train, a new private passenger rail service connecting South Florida’s downtown areas, will launch in 2018. The Miami station will be located near the corner of NW Second Avenue and Sixth Street. and will connect to the free metro mover with a station inside the hotel and the convention center. Brightline offers express service with fares starting at $10 per leg.

“We believe the comfort and convenience of our travel experience, paired with premium hospitality, will set a new standard for passenger rail service,” said Patrick Goddard, Brightline’s president and COO. “Our team will continue to ramp up operations as we prepare to fully launch this transformative new infrastructure asset for South Florida.”

In addition to the expansions, Miami’s culinary scene continues to rise, with young chefs like Brad Kilgore leading the movement. Kilgore’s restaurant, Alter, located in the trendy neighborhood of Wynwood, focuses on locally sourced products. Back in downtown Miami, the Hyatt Regency Miami is just a short walk from the Brickell City Centre, which has nearly endless dining options, including La Centrale, Miami’s premier Italian food hall, offering 40,000 square feet of restaurants, bars, cafes, and a cooking studio.

But, Miami is a lot more than just shopping and dining. The destination is also establishing itself as a pharma hub. Miami International Airport is the only airport in North America to receive a designation of excellence in pharmaceutical cargo logistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The airport has partnered with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and LATAM Cargo – which both achieved IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in (CEIV) pharma logistics certification. These certifications qualify the airport to transport pharma products in accordance with global best practices, and the efforts have clearly paid off. From 2010 to 2016, pharma trade in Miami grew in value from $1.8 billion to $4.4 billion.

The Hyatt Regency Miami remains at the epicenter of the city’s growth, accommodating the burgeoning pharma scene. A landmark of Miami as the first hotel to be developed downtown, the hotel already has welcomed several big pharma groups, including co-hosting Phacilitate’s Gene & Cell Therapy World and the World Stem Cell Summit in January 2018. Both events bring together hundreds of the world’s leading researchers and policy makers in the biotech and pharma fields to collaborate, learn, and share ideas.

 

 

 

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