GREATER MIAMI AND THE BEACHES FACT SHEET

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MIAMI'S BIRTHDAY:  · July 28, 1896

GEOGRAPHY:  · Miami-DadeCounty area:  1,955 square miles / 3,145 square kilometers Elevation:  12 feet / 3.6 meters / 15+ miles of beaches

CLIMATE: · Subtropical annual average daily temperature:  76 degrees Fahrenheit / 23 degrees Celsius · Year-round sunshine

RECREATION: ·800+ parks, including CrandonBeachCountyPark and BillBaggsCapeFloridaState Park, consistently in Dr. Beach's top 10 Best Beaches in the U.S.  Miami is also home to two unique national parks, BiscayneNational Park and EvergladesNational Park.  Award-winning tennis and golf are popular here, as well as water sports, such as parasailing, windsurfing, wave-running and jet-skiing.

DEMOGRAPHICS:                

· Miami-Dade County population:  2.64 million+

· Ethnic breakdown: White 46.18%, Hispanic 63.58%, Black 18.51% 

· Median household income:  $40,804

GOVERNMENT: 35 municipalities, including Miami-Dade County, City of Miami, City of Miami Beach and Bal Harbour Village

LODGING: 375 hotels and motels and 48,917 rooms

TRANSPORTATION:               

• Miami Central Station:  Schedule for completion in Summer 2014, the 16.5-acre station is scheduled to open as Miami-Dade County's first ground transportation hub, providing passengers connections to services such as: Miami-Dade Transit's Metrobus; Tri-Rail, a heavy-rail system that serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties; Amtrak; Greyhound; taxi and other forms of private transportation. For more information visit: www.MiamiAirport.com/cip_miami_central_station.asp.

• PortMiami Tunnel:  Scheduled for completion in Summer 2014, the Port Tunnel will improve access to and from PortMiami serving as a dedicated roadway connector linking Port facilities with Florida's Interstate System. In addition to providing quicker access for Port-bound trucks and automobiles, the Port Tunnel is designed to reduce traffic congestion on downtown Miami streets.  The tunnel is comprised of two side-by-side tubes that will carry traffic underneath Biscayne Bay. The project includes roadway work on adjacent roads and the widening of the MacArthur Causeway Bridge that links downtown Miami to Miami Beach.

• All Aboard Florida:  Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is developing a privately owned, operated and maintained intercity passenger rail service that will give business and leisure passengers a new convenient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to travel between South Florida and Central Florida starting the end of 2015.  The new route will feature passenger service along the existing Florida East Coast Corridor between Miami and the Space Coast and the creation of new tracks into Central Florida. Stations are currently planned for the downtowns of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando International Airport. 

• On April 9th, a special commission meeting of the City of Miami Beach Commission will select a design architect for the Miami Beach Convention Center modernization project.  For more information, visit www.MiamiBeachFL.gov

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (MIA)                     

• MIA is currently the no. 2 gateway in the U.S. for international arrivals (20.2 million in 2013).
• MIA welcomed a total of 40 million passengers in 2013.
• MIA ranked among the 10 busiest U.S. airports in 2013- Airport jumped two spots, according to ACI World

• MIA is Florida's busiest airport handling nearly 70% of Florida's international passenger traffic and the US's no. 2 gateway for international passenger traffic.

• In 2013, MIA continued to expand internationally with 7 new foreign destinations:  Guadeloupe, Martinique, Cozumel, Milan, Curitiba & Porto Alegre, all by American Airlines; and Calgary by Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet.

• MIA's global route network will expand further with 4 new route launches scheduled in 2014:  Belem, Brazil; Brussels, Belgium; Doha, Qatar and Helsinki, Finland.

• With the addition of TAM's direct flights from Belem, MIA is the U.S. airport serving the most destinations in Brazil, with a total of 10 cities: Belem, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo.

• In December 2013, MIA launched a pilot program to increase Custom Border Protection (CBP) staffing and reduce wait times.  MIA is one of 3 US hub airports chosen by CBP to participate in a pilot program which allows MIA to reimburse CBP for extra-man hours to better handle the international traffic at MIA.

Port Miami                      

• PortMiami, “Cruise Capital of the World™,” handled more than four million passengers in 2013.  Miami continues to be the departure destination of choice for cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico & other exciting destinations.
• During the 2013 cruise season, the port welcomed 2 new cruise brands-Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Disney Cruise Line-and the arrival of 3 new build ships including: the Carnival Breeze, Celebrity Reflection and the Oceania Riviera. 
• During the 2014 season, Miami welcomed new build vessels from MSC Cruises' MSC Divina and Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Getaway.
• Miami is home to the world's leading cruise lines:  Aida Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Resorts World Bimini and Royal Caribbean International.
• The GMCVB expanded its Temptation Program to include January as Miami Cruise Month.  This exciting new program features cruise offers departing from PortMiami and special pre/post cruise hotel stays.  For more information visit: www.MiamiCruiseMonth.com.

PROFESSIONAL TEAMS:        ·Miami Marlins Baseball · Miami Dolphins Football · Miami Heat Basketball ·  Florida Panthers Hockey · Coming Soon: Major League Soccer Team brought to you by David Beckham

OTHER FUN FACTS:   

• “Miami's Cuban Coffee rated by Forbes Traveler as one of the country's best “street food”
•    Miami Beach's Art Deco District contains the world's largest collection of Art Deco Architecture (800+ buildings)
• Miami is the Wreckreational Diving Capital of the World, containing Miami over 50 diveable wreck sites—such as ships, oil platforms, army tanks and the Spirit of Miami Boeing 727 jet-- sunken to provide artificial reefs for marine life.
• Miami is also home to the largest concentration of Boutique Hotels in the world.
• Miami Beach is a man-made island that was once a Coconut Grove Plantation.
• Julia Tuttle, -- the "Mother of Miami" -- convinced Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler to extend his railroad from central Florida to Miami, build a luxury hotel, and lay out a new town. She did so by sending him perfect Miami orange blossoms during a crop freeze north of Miami. The railroad arrived in 1896. The City of Miami was incorporated on July 28 that same year. The city of Miami is the only major city in the U.S. to be planned by a woman.
• Miami is home to the world's only Everglades eco-system, made famous in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas' book The River of Grass.
• Miami is home to 150+ ethnicities and 60+ languages
• Miami's unique sport of Jai-Alai features pelotas which are recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as traveling up to 75 mph.
• Miami was a mangrove swamp before its development started in the 1920s.What is now a glittering city was once a mosquito infested swamp, with no deep water port, railroad, or air conditioning. It wasn't until the extension of a railroad system from West Palm Beach to Miami in the 1920s that the development of the city started.
• Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine (ATM) specially designed for rollerbladers. In-line skaters weren't always the most popular customers in Miami's banks and shops. In 1996, Citibank's Miami Beach branch came up with an innovative solution to help rollerbladers access their funds – they set up an ATM outside the bank with a ramp leading up to it.
• Miami has more than 800 parks and is the only city in the US that is bordered by two separate national parks – Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. Countless other parks situated downtown, oceanside and in the suburbs provide opportunities for picnics, watersports, fishing, and hikes.
• Sunscreen was invented by a Miami Beach physician. In the 1940s, Benjamin Green developed a lotion for WWII soldiers stationed in the South Pacific. He reportedly produced the world's first sunscreen, a red-coloured petroleum gel, in his own kitchen. After the war, he improved his formula which was then manufactured by Coppertone.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:      

• January 2013 – Miami was named one of the top 5 luxury nightclubs destinations in the world by ALuxuryTravelBlog.com
• South Beach, Miami was named the Best Beach for People-Watching by Travel and Leisure and one of the top 10 beaches in the world – January 2013
• In 2012 Miami was named the #1 New Years Eve Destination by Travelocity
• Amazon.com named Miami one of the “Most Well-Read Cities in America”, Miami came in 6th out of 20 cities.
• Miami Beach ranked #2 among “Top 10 Beach Destinations in U.S.” by Travelers' Choice 2012
• Miami was voted as one of the most romantic cities in the United States on Amazon.com (4th)
• Miami was ranked #1The Happiest Cities to Work by Metro NY in 2012
• Miami named among "America's 10 Best Cities for Dating" on Yahoo! Travel in 2012
• Miami named among the top Ultimate Sports Cities in the US by the website www.TUSL.com in 2011
• Trader Monthly ranked Miami as the 5thbest trading city.
  • According to the 2012 Knight Frank Prime International Residential                                                  

       Index, Miami ranks third in the luxury home market.

• According to the 2012 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report  

      commissioned by American Express, Miami ranks 4th in most women-

      owned businesses.

• Yahoo!Travel ranked Miami as one of the top cities for dating this

       year.

• Fontainebleau Hotel was voted best building in Florida in American

       Institute of Architecture Competition.

• May 2013 - Miami named one of the “Tastiest Towns in the South” by          

       Southern Living, which recognized Miami as “a culinary Mrs.     

       Robinson (mature, refined, and sexier than ever) with a Southern

       accent.”

• In May 2013 Miami was rated #12 on TripAdvisor's 2013 Travelers' Choice Destination Awards.
• In July 2013 FlipKey, the vacation rental company of leading travel website, TripAdvisor.com named Miami Beach the Top Girlfriend Getaway Destination
• In September 2013 Miami was awarded TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice 2013 award, winning top destination in the United States.
• In March 2014, Time ranks Miami as #3 on the top list of selfiest cities in the world. http://time.com/selfies-cities-world-rankings/
• ConventionSouth Magazine names Miami third among the Gulf States/Caribbean Region in the 2014 Readers' Choice Awards for “The South's Best Foodie Cities for Groups.” Each of the cities on the 2014 Readers' Choice list of 'The South's Best Foodie Cities for Groups' represent the best of the best when it comes to offering traveling groups a wide selection of unique, intriguing and delicious cuisine.

INFORMATION: Contact the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) by mail at GMCVB, Visitor Services, 701 Brickell Ave., Suite 2700, Miami, FL 33131, on the web at www.miamiandbeaches.com, or by phone 305-539-3000 or 800-933-8448 (U.S./Canada only).   

701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 2700

Miami, Florida 33131

305/539-3084, Fax 305/539-2911

http://www.MiamiAndBeaches.com

E-mail:  Media@MiamiAndBeaches.com