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Gateway to Keys or tourist detour?
BY STEVE GIBBS
keysnews.com
DADE COUNTY -- As more
hotel rooms rise from the corn and tomato fields of Florida City and
Homestead, Keys tourism business could suffer, warns the head of the
local lodging association.
Lower room rates in
Florida City and Homestead hotels, marketing themselves as "the gateway
to the Keys" may already be luring Keys visitors to South Dade.
Still recovering from
a depressed economy and an initial dropoff in tourism after the 9/11
attack, groups like the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce are beginning to
wrestle with the economic impact of competition just 25 minutes away at
the top of the 18-Mile Stretch.
"This is already
happening," said Peter Ilchuk, president of the Lodging Association of
the Florida Keys and Key West. "Records show that there is great
activity on the Spiegel Grove, but we are not seeing that activity in
the motels."
The Key Largo Chamber
of Commerce will discuss the "Homestead problem" at the next meeting,
said Karen Tiedemann, president of the chamber. "The restaurants and
entertainment resources have done very well," she said. "Our motels and
resorts have not done as well, and of course we're concerned about the
large number of additional units going up and the impact that will have
on our lodging."
New competition
Today, Homestead has
1,500 hotel rooms. Another 1,000 to 1,500 rooms are on the planning
board, Ilchuk said. These units will compete with the 15,000 rooms in
the Keys, he said.
But it's not only the
growth of transient units that worries Ilchuk.
"I read recently where
[Homestead] permitted 5,000 new homes in the month of May alone," he
said.
It is projected that 1.2
million additional people will populate Dade by 2023, mostly in the
southern portion of the county, where once-open agricultural fields
offer room for development. Most of the rest of Dade is built out.
The increase in the
residential as well as the transient population within 30 minutes of Key
Largo has the potential to place what Ilchuk calls "extraordinary
pressure on the recreational resources of the Upper Keys."
He sees the potential
for our parks, limited boat launch facilities and public places, as well
as commercial properties to bulge at the seams, leading directly to
increased auto accidents, holiday revelry that leads to violence and a
general degradation of the community.
What could happen is
that tourists will stay in Dade County and drive to Monroe to take
advantage of recreational opportunities, "but not really contribute to
the Keys revenue," Ilchuk said. "They'll even bring food and supplies
with them."
Finding solutions
Tiedemann is also
concerned about the growing competition north of the 18-Mile Stretch and
will discuss it with the chamber board.
"[Tourist Development
Council] advertising campaigns are going to have to change," she said.
"They need to emphasize our biggest selling points, such as a beach as
part of a Keys' resort package."
Asked for a solution,
her pessimistic frown turned to an optimistic smile.
"I'm hoping we'll come
up with ideas," she said. "We have a very diverse and intelligent board.
They are very business savvy. I'm confident we'll come up with good
ideas."
Tiedemann still refers
to the Keys as "The Caribbean You Can Drive To" -- the promotional
slogan the Keys adopted after 9/11 -- and she said that's not a bad
thing at all.
"'Day-tripper' is not
a bad word," she said. "We complain that it takes 10 minutes to make a
left turn when it's busy, but that's the price we pay for a healthy
economy."
She said her
information is that the restaurants and mini-markets are flourishing.
There is no denying
that a growing number of hotels and motels in South Dade County -- both
Homestead and Florida City -- are actively marketing their lodging as
"The gateway to The Keys."
The Best Western in
Homestead/Florida City offers "a newly-renovated 114-rooms with suites,
all with king or queen beds. Start the day by enjoying an upgraded
continental breakfast and later, soak up the Florida sun in our lush
tropical courtyard area, with refreshing pool and spa," the
advertisement reads.
"Only minutes away
you'll find an array of exciting recreational opportunities including
golf, tennis, jogging, air boating, baseball, motor sports racing and
diving, and we're only 20 minutes from the Florida Keys."
Key
Largo, Florida City miles apart on room prices
BY STEVE GIBBS
keysnews.com
A comparison of the
lowest weekday room rates available indicates that, on a one-week basis,
visitors could save considerably by booking a room in Florida City
instead of the Upper Keys.
Of the five motels
listed on the Internet for Florida City, the single-night rates for Oct.
13 ranged from $36.90 to $62.10 per night for two people.
For Key Largo the room
rates ranged from the Ramada Inn at $69.95 a night to the Marriott Bay
Beach Resort at $119.95 a night, again for two people.
Islamorada's rates
ranged from Days Suites at $80.10 per night to the Islander at $169.
Given those
circumstances a vacationing couple could save a minimum of $198.30 for a
six-night, seven-day visit over the best Key Largo rate, and $259.20
over the best Islamorada rate.
There are small "mom
and pop" motels not listed on the Internet, such as the Sea Trail Motel
in Key Largo that offers a small clean room for $40 a night with a
shower and a color TV. There's no beach and no pool and the ambulance
building is next door, but it's been successful for years because it
provides the basics at a very affordable price.
Popp's Motel in Key
Largo, owned and operated by the Popp family for a couple of
generations, offers cottages with kitchenettes for $89 a night, or $600
a week this time of year.
"We can't fluctuate
our rates like the big chains," Linda Popp, the current generation,
said. "The big ones double and triple their rates during holidays and
big events."
Motel rates during big
races at the Homestead Speedway in early January illustrate Popp's
point. Rates on January 6, 2004 are triple the normal rate.
Popp said she couldn't
do that because she considers it price gouging. She said the same goes
for setting minimum lengths of stay, as is routinely done at Fantasy
Fest in Key West where many hotels and resorts set a four-to-five day
minimum.
"Repeat business is a
big part of our clientele," Popp said.
She considers the
practice of greatly discounting room rates during slow times a lose-lose
situation for all innkeepers.
"Deep discounting is
not the answer when occupancy is dropping," she said. "It puts more
properties in competition for the same limited number of travelers."
Islamorada has less
expensive motels too. The Golden Key Motel at mile marker 81, for
example, offers rooms from $55 a night.
But the name motels --
the higher-profile motels and resorts that many tourists prefer -- are
all higher at their lowest range than the most expensive Florida City
motel.
For example, The
Comfort Inn on S.E. 1st Ave. in Florida City currently lists a rate of
$42.49 a night for two people; the Econo Lodge on N.E. First Ave. in
Florida City charges $40.50 a night for two.
Key Largo's Best
Western's lowest rate for two is $98 per night, more than double; Howard
Johnson's best rate is $75.95 for two; and Marina Del Mar's lowest rate
for two is $99.95.
In Islamorada, Holiday
Isle's best rate for two is $122.50; The Chesapeake Resort's best rate
for two is $119; and Cheeca Lodge's best rate for two is $159.95 a
night.
There is a disparity
between what Cheeca Lodge or the Siesta Resort offer in terms of
amenities and that which the Florida City Econo Lodge might offer.
Many vacationers are
willing to pay $959.70 for a week at Cheeca where the ocean is in the
front yard and a nine-hole golf course is in the back yard.
The Kona Kai Bayside
Resort offers rooms for $140 a night during the week. Owner Ronnie
Harris said resorts like the one she owns with her husband, Joe Harris,
should always be in demand.
"People don't mind
paying a premium for beaches and a great sunset," she said. "It's hard
to find that in Florida City. There will always be a demand for the
high-end resort that offers amenities like a private beach." |
