Long viewed as a reveler’s paradise with its powdery beaches, pulsing nightlife, and urban art scene, Miami has become a playground for meeting planners and their attendees, too. In 2024, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (GMCVB) convention sales team secured 16 new Miami Beach Convention Center bookings, surpassing its goal of 15 and accounting for 65,000 attendees with 107,604 room nights sold. During the last fiscal year, from October 2024 to the end of September last year, the team successfully serviced 35 citywide events, setting a new record.
Industry professionals, including planners, say the growing interest in Miami stems from the metro’s ability to provide all the comforts of a domestic location with the versatility of an international destination. Miami is filled with distinct neighborhoods that offer a variety of experiences, from the Miami Beach waterfront and colorful Wynwood to the shimmering Brickell district and bohemian Coconut Grove. In this dynamic city, planners can create events centered on immersive programming and off-sites that leave a lasting impression.
The city has made extensive efforts to reel in the big fish for meetings. Miami already has gained international repute by hosting Formula 1 races, FIFA World Cup matches, and Art Basel, but now, with several hotels and meeting spaces undergoing significant renovations, the city is poised to attract larger corporate events, according to Carol Motley, GMCVB senior vice president of convention sales and services.
A $640 million modernization of the Miami Beach Convention Center, the area’s main convention facility, and a groundbreaking on an attached 800-room hotel, position the city to host more events on a global scale. “We have a world-class building with [updated] technology and strong infrastructure, and then we also have the complementary Grand Hyatt Miami Beach hotel that will be attached to that convention center,” Motley says. “We’re talking about a $1.4 billion investment. It gives us the ability to go after the Adobes, Ciscos, and Workdays of the world.”
The new headquarters hotel will open late next year, providing 90,000 square feet of indoor meeting and conference space, along with 10,000 square feet of outdoor event space. A climate-controlled skybridge will connect the hotel directly to the Miami Beach Convention Center, enabling direct passage between the two venues.
“The realization of a connected headquarters hotel will be a historic milestone and a game changer for the Miami Beach Convention Center,” adds Freddie Peterson, general manager of the convention center, representing Denver-based Oak View Group. He also notes two additional recent enhancements: the installation of four dynamic, large-format LED video walls in the convention center’s grand lobby and a $1.35 million network investment that introduced Wi-Fi 7—the latest and fastest Wi-Fi standard—to the facility.
Beyond driving demand via property improvements, Motley has placed destination marketing representatives in Chicago; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C., to get in-person face time with prospective clients. “That has given us a broader reach,” she says.
Endless Possibilities in Miami
Lauren Halpern, president of Make A Statement Events in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says Miami’s breadth of offerings is a major draw. Plus, Miami International Airport makes it easy for attendees and speakers to get in and out of the city whenever they need to, and each of Miami’s neighborhoods provides an evocative experience on which to center programming.
“There are a lot of different areas,” says Halpern. “You have Miami Beach. You have the Wynwood Walls [street-art museum]. You have the Miami Design District. You have Little Havana.” She advises planners to make use of Miami’s waterways and coastal location, citing yacht rentals, barges, or sailing regattas for receptions, brand activations, or team building, respectively.
Halpern has organized events at many venues across the city, from an illuminated evening at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (complete with a violinist to set the mood) to a corporate event at LoanDepot Park (home of MLB’s Miami Marlins), where Halpern started things off with a cocktail reception on the Skyline Terrace, followed by team building at the batting cages and dinner right on the field. For planners, the range of venue types makes it possible to host many kinds of events—a beachfront incentive, design-forward product launch, downtown executive summit, and more—all within the same market.
Lina Cantillo, director of sales for the South Florida region at destination management company Cohera (based in Orlando, Florida), says Miami gives groups the “vacation” feeling of traveling abroad while staying within the U.S. “It has such an authentic atmosphere, environment, and energy,” she adds.
Fresh Miami Air
The city’s climate is an additional perk planners embrace, particularly in the more temperate months (peak season) between January and March. Katie Smythe, senior manager of meetings and events at HMP Global of Malvern, Pennsylvania, oversees several hundred events annually for the healthcare education company. Her team selected the 300-acre campus of the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa for the company’s inaugural Drug Channels Leadership Forum that drew nearly 400 attendees. The company already has rebooked for future years.
Smythe says a major differentiator at Turnberry is the amount of outdoor space available, which she uses to serve breakfast and lunch, as well as to hold evening receptions. “What our attendees say they love about this event is that we try to get them outside as much as we can,” she says.
Felice Kreitman, executive director of sales at JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa, says the hotel’s amenities really resonate with groups who want to incorporate wellness into their programming. Attendees can exercise amid the sprawling grounds, use the full-service spa, or hit the links at two private golf courses during their stay. Fun runs and yoga lessons have been particularly popular among planners who want to promote team well-being. “We want people to leave feeling better than when they arrived,” Kreitman says.
Outdoor spaces are used intentionally at Fontainebleau Miami Beach as well, with the expansive pool deck doubling as an exhibit hall, according to Sinaca Lingard, vice president of event management at the hotel. Fontainebleau offers turnkey services for the roughly 60% of its business that comes from corporate or other group bookings. The hotel’s newer Coastal Convention Center provides 45,000 square feet of additional event space.
Effective Use of Space
The city’s inventory boasts venues where planners can make use of the built-in identity or start from a blank canvas to customize an event. Carolina Vasquez, director of event sales and operations at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami, says her clients increasingly are seeking intentional experiences.
At the museum, that can mean receptions by the aquarium, private museum tours, animal encounters or feedings, planetarium programming, or sustainability-centered activities. Rather than asking about the best way to decorate a ballroom, Vasquez says her clients are asking how to effectively activate a venue’s assets. “[Planners are] putting more importance on how their meeting attendees actually feel throughout the event,” she says.
That shift also benefits offbeat venues, such as Ice Palace Studios, a former ice-manufacturing plant that now hosts events. Ice Palace Studios Assistant Manager Santiago Bermudez says there’s a trend toward creating customizable environments where clients can tell a story. Ice Palace Studios’ black-box space allows planners to fully tailor staging, branding, and flow without working around built-in decor. “You don’t have to be fighting against a weird carpet or a huge chandelier. The content becomes the centerpiece,” he says.
Immersive Programming Wins
Planners who want attendees to connect with the Miami area’s distinctive character are moving beyond bustling South Beach. For example, Halpern organizes ecotours in The Everglades, during which attendees walk and have lunch along the swamps or take thrilling airboat tours for close-up encounters with alligators.
The Little Havana neighborhood is a strong favorite for groups seeking an energetic welcome night. Ball & Chain, a well-known venue there, has become a popular off-site location for clients who want live music, dancing, and Cuban flavor. Ball & Chain’s Event Manager Samantha Nieves says clients generally are looking for something with flair. “It’s all about the experience and [attendees] immersing themselves in that experience,” she says. “They don’t want just a space to network or to have a conversation with their colleagues.”
Programming at Ball & Chain can include salsa lessons, mojito-making classes, cigar-rolling demonstrations, live bands, and branded activations. Cantillo recently placed a Canadian client’s group at Ball & Chain after they asked to explore neighborhoods beyond the typical tourist circuit.
Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood is another popular location request, particularly for groups who have already experienced the Ocean Drive and Art Deco District staples in Miami Beach. Halpern recalls producing a 600-person tech industry event that included an Art Basel-inspired gallery inside a Wynwood warehouse, as well as a lively street party.
Programming centered on food also is a favorite for planners hosting in Miami, especially for team building and smaller executive groups, according to Vanessa Jetter, operations and logistics manager for Miami Culinary Tours, based in Miami Beach. Her team leads tours of up to 125 participants through Little Havana, giving attendees treats for all their senses—on each tour, attendees encounter vibrant murals, hear syncopated Latin beats, and savor tasty bites. For planners building menus elsewhere in the city, Jetter recommends they incorporate Cuban staples to give their event regional flair, like Cuban coffee or cafecito, guava pastries, mojitos, or Cuban sandwiches.
