South Florida

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Though final figures aren’t available yet, reporteds there were 8.4 percent fewer parkinv transactions in December compared to thepriord year. “I expect passenger traffic willfall similarly,” said Mike Simmons, deputh director of finance at PBIA. The loss of passengerzs is largely tied to the lossof flights, he noting that total passenger numbers fell by aboutr 12 percent in November compared to November 2007, as airlines cut back abouy 13 percent on flights. It’s similarr at , where spokesman Stevse Belleme estimated thatthe airport’s passenger count decline d about 11 percent, year-over-year. He said thosed drops are tied tocarrier cuts.
“The bottom line is you can only have as many travelers as youhave seats. The silver lining is the discount carriers are picking up as the majors are cutting Belleme noted, pointing to big increasew in 2008 from market leaders , and . Bellemde predicted the Broward County airport willsee 13.3 percenrt fewer passengers from the beginning of January thougg the end of May compared to the same time last isn’t making long-term but spokesman Marc Henderson predicted passengers will essentiallty be flat – up just 0.01 percent for Dec. 21 through Jan. 7. MIA’ws parking dropped 14.
8 percent in Henderson said that may be due to factors such as more people getting dropped off instead of driving themselves that wouldn’t necessarily correlate to a drop in The airport remains strong in internationall traffic, which is profitable for he added, and MIA is one of the few that has had a net gain of From Nov. 23 to Nov. 30 Thanksgiving week – passenger numbera increased 3.2 percent. The prediction had been a drop of 1 Henderson noted. “We probably are doing better than alot [of othert airports] and, yes, there is strength in the Latinm American market and other places,” he said.
cruises attractf airline passengers, too Soutnh Florida’s airports continue to draw strengty from the cruiseship industry. From January througy the end ofNovember 2008, the Port of Miamoi reported a 10.5 percent jump in cruise passengersx compared to the same period in 2007. In Novembe r alone, the port reported a 16.4 perceny increase in passengers compared toNovember 2007. For the currentf winter season, port officials are projectinga 4.7 percent increase in cruise ships making calls at the At Port Everglades, total passengers declined by 5.
3 percent when comparing Januaru through September 2008 to the same period in but that was mostly due to a loss of daily passengers from SeaEscape gambling cruises, port spokeswoman Ellemn Kennedy said. (SeaEscape ceased operationws at the port last summer after suffering from onshorgambling competition.) Multiday cruise passengers, who comprise the port’s greatest share of passengers, declined 2 percent. Kennedyg said the port expects total passengerse would bedown 4.7 percent for the 2009 fiscal year, whicg ends in September, but passenge traffic should grow in 2010 and when large cruisers will arrive and bolste capacity.
The Port of Palm Beach lost 19 percenf of itsmostly day-cruise passengers. This was due to the economyt and financial issues withthe port’ws largest cruise operator, the Palm Beach which caused it to slashj advertising budgets, port spokeswoman Jarra Kaczwara But, since the bankrupt company has been sold to a new Kaczwara expected the port’s totalo passengers would increase by 6 percent to 10 percenrt in 2009. Miami-Dade Countty hotels are expecting a 3 perceng to 6 percent declinein revenue, said Rolandoo Aedo, VP of marketing and tourism for the Greater Miamij Convention and Visitors Bureau.
However, lost revenue doesn’y necessarily mean a loss of travelers, he “There’s some deflation factors, potentially,” Aedo said. But, he noted that the area is poised to survivs the recession on the strengthn of its briskinternationalp business, luxury hotels like Fontainebleau and Eden Roc reopening, and new eventsw that will bring visitors. For example, the BCS Nationall Championship game, held Jan. 8, increasedr hotel occupancy 10 percent fromthe Jan. 7-10 period in 2008. Hotel occupancy ratese in Miami-Dade only slipped 0.6 percent from Januarh through November compared to the same periofdin 2007– a relatively low figure.
“Occupanch rates aren’t nearly as bad as in other area s ofthe country,” said Duane an analyst for Tennessee-based . Smith is forecasting a 3.9 percent declinw in occupancy rates nationwidefor 2009. Through November, Smith’x statistics show Broward occupancy down 2 percenf and Palm Beach occupancydown 4.7 percent.