Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do business on Miami Beach and live in the Fort Lauderdale area and I have to tell ya, someone is doing a really, really bad job of attracting tourists here who spend money in our local community when you see South Beach brimming with money spending tourists, which is not the case in Fort Lauderdale.
Although the numbers are up for both tourism and occupied offices in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the downtown area except for Las Olas looks like an empty ghost town with the Riverwalk shopping complex almost completely empty. Even Las Olas doesn't look to be doing so hot as it was as there are several empty storefronts there with for lease signs on them. And all those high rises apartment and condominium buildings built downtown that were supposed to make downtown Fort Lauderdale boom with business haven't brought any in as more places have closed than have opened since those highrises were built.
Go into the popular Gay area of Wilton Manors and again, more empty store fronts.
Of course you can try to blame empty shops on high rents here but a friend looked into renting a shop on Lincoln Road in South Beach and passed on it when she found out the rent was $30,000. a month for a very small space, but Lincoln Road attracts lots and lots of money spending tourists who help business owners to pay those high rents so what has gone wrong in Fort Lauderdale? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math that more tourists spending money at your store means you have more money to pay higher rents with.
I can only think that it might be due to the "all inclusive" resorts that have been built here where wealthy tourists can basically never leave their hotel except maybe to go to the beach and back as they have everything in their hotel such as restaurants, nightclubs, shops, etc. I've heard from friends in big retail stores that many of the tourists who come here who stay in those big places come from outside of the U.S. to buy clothes, shoes, etc. as name brand and designer clothing in their own countries is very expensive as compared to here. I mean, you see all these people in those big stores nicely dressed buying clothing but you don't see many people like that wearing those clothes here as most of the people in Fort Lauderdale seem to be mostly dressed in t-shirts and shorts and you really have to either go down to Las Olas or down to Lincoln Road on South Beach if you want to see people dressed in fashion out on the streets.
Although there are all inclusive resorts in South Beach, there are also lots and lots of smaller hotels where you only get a very small room when you stay in them with no pool, etc., so tourists who stay in those places are more inclined to go out to the beach and eat and shop and spend time walking around as opposed to going on vacation and not leaving their hotel, which seems to be the case in Fort Lauderdale as the evidence is all around us that closed stores mean tourists being attracted to come here are not shopping and eating at smaller businesses that used to employ a fairly large number of workers here.
Can this trend of attracting tourists who don't spend money that supports local businesses be reversed or are tourism based jobs in Fort Lauderdale going to keep going down the tubes and just keep being replaced with all those part-time jobs at big box stores that don't pay well and which don't offer much of anything in the way of benefits?
That is what you get when you hire washed up politicians to head up the Tourist Development Council. Fat Nicki Grossman then and fatuous Stacey Ritter now. They are only looking for a cushy government job with great benefits and something to keep them busy while they "earn" their enormous pension.
The Las Olas Company has early ended many of the long term leases at the requests of the business owners in order to attract chains that can spend more money. Tommy Bahama is in negotiations with them to open a restaurant in the old Cafe de Paris location along with a lot of other great additions to the boulevard.
The Riverwalk shopping complex has been sold and is currently being demolished to make way for a new live/work high rise.
You are comparing apples to oranges comparing Lincoln Road to Las Olas. Current commercial rents for a storefront on Las Olas are in the $100 square foot range and Lincoln Road is in the $300 psf range.
www.Sunny.org is doing an amazing job attracting visitors. Currently Fort Lauderdale has one of the highest hotel occupancy rates in the country with only Key West out performing.
The new Brightline Train is an amazing addition to our city.
I do business on Miami Beach and live in the Fort Lauderdale area and I have to tell ya, someone is doing a really, really bad job of attracting tourists here who spend money in our local community when you see South Beach brimming with money spending tourists, which is not the case in Fort Lauderdale.
Although the numbers are up for both tourism and occupied offices in downtown Fort Lauderdale, the downtown area except for Las Olas looks like an empty ghost town with the Riverwalk shopping complex almost completely empty. Even Las Olas doesn't look to be doing so hot as it was as there are several empty storefronts there with for lease signs on them. And all those high rises apartment and condominium buildings built downtown that were supposed to make downtown Fort Lauderdale boom with business haven't brought any in as more places have closed than have opened since those highrises were built.
Go into the popular Gay area of Wilton Manors and again, more empty store fronts.
Of course you can try to blame empty shops on high rents here but a friend looked into renting a shop on Lincoln Road in South Beach and passed on it when she found out the rent was $30,000. a month for a very small space, but Lincoln Road attracts lots and lots of money spending tourists who help business owners to pay those high rents so what has gone wrong in Fort Lauderdale? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math that more tourists spending money at your store means you have more money to pay higher rents with.
I can only think that it might be due to the "all inclusive" resorts that have been built here where wealthy tourists can basically never leave their hotel except maybe to go to the beach and back as they have everything in their hotel such as restaurants, nightclubs, shops, etc. I've heard from friends in big retail stores that many of the tourists who come here who stay in those big places come from outside of the U.S. to buy clothes, shoes, etc. as name brand and designer clothing in their own countries is very expensive as compared to here. I mean, you see all these people in those big stores nicely dressed buying clothing but you don't see many people like that wearing those clothes here as most of the people in Fort Lauderdale seem to be mostly dressed in t-shirts and shorts and you really have to either go down to Las Olas or down to Lincoln Road on South Beach if you want to see people dressed in fashion out on the streets.
Although there are all inclusive resorts in South Beach, there are also lots and lots of smaller hotels where you only get a very small room when you stay in them with no pool, etc., so tourists who stay in those places are more inclined to go out to the beach and eat and shop and spend time walking around as opposed to going on vacation and not leaving their hotel, which seems to be the case in Fort Lauderdale as the evidence is all around us that closed stores mean tourists being attracted to come here are not shopping and eating at smaller businesses that used to employ a fairly large number of workers here.
Can this trend of attracting tourists who don't spend money that supports local businesses be reversed or are tourism based jobs in Fort Lauderdale going to keep going down the tubes and just keep being replaced with all those part-time jobs at big box stores that don't pay well and which don't offer much of anything in the way of benefits?
Well, I have a small list of things that could be a problem for increased revenue from tourist.
1) As an outsider looking in.. I can surmise from reading here.. that tourists are not appreciated much from all the complaints right here on this site. So, suspect tourists feel unwelcomed.
2) Then of course the Zika Virus certainly scared off many tourists last year.
3) Tourists that come from Countries that have "Gun Control" see clearly, that Conceal Carry, killing of unarmed people, and many Social media types validating their Constitutional rights to defend themselves. You know> Shoot first and ask questions later.
4) Social uprisings surrounding oppressive legislations aimed at local community.. meanwhile tourists afraid of getting in the crossfire.
5) Finally. American $ alone for Canadian's is 30% higher and it's just too expensive.. or the one's that do go opt for shopping that ONLY purchase sustaining things. Food at local markets and cook at rented place where they can prepare, eat and enjoy. Therefore, less $ spent on eating OUT!
I'm sure there's a lot more reasons. It's just in the last few years know of dozens of family and friends who chose alternate locations outside of the USA to visit or vacation. Why should anyone spend good money to vacation somewhere they feel unwelcome, could be under threat and spend 30+% more for whatever services they need??
We lived in Miami Lakes and later Ft. Lauderdale for 12 years before we relocated to ATL. We loved the area and spent lots of time on Las Olas, Riverwalk, and the beach. We have very fond memories.
Lately we have been wanting to go back to Ft. Lauderdale and visit all the fun places we used to frequent. However, when we started looking for a hotel, we were very surprised to learn how old and out-dated the ones on the beach were. Expensive, as well, because of the fees--daily resort fee, daily valet parking fee (mandatory if you bring a car), charges for beach chairs and umbrellas. Resort fee was $35, valet was $25 (both of these fees were per day), and beach chairs were $10 each and umbrellas were $20 (per use). SOME of the resort fees included the chairs and umbrellas. One issue with these fees seems to be that Expedia, Hotels.com, et al don't seem to make purchasers aware of these fees, so hotel guests are shocked when they check in and it turns out they owe so much more money.
Okay, so we were willing to pay these fees to see our former beloved city, but the hotels along the beach had some horror stories in their reviews. Many said the hotels were old and some were dirty. Some rooms were not cleaned every day. One couple said their sheets were never changed during the week they were there. Apparently, room service was often very slow and also overpriced. Some guests said customer service was bad. Some of the cars parked by the valets sustained damage. Desk clerks were unfriendly and sometimes unhelpful. Now I will say there were also good reviews. However, after reading the 3 and 2 star reviews, we were completely turned off.
My suggestion is that the Chamber of Commerce look into the quality of the employees of the hotels and definitely the cleanliness. Old is one thing, dirty is another!
Of course, the all-in-one resorts not on the beach sounded lovely, but we wanted an ocean view. After searching for an acceptable hotel on-line for 2 days, we gave up and cancelled our trip. We feel sad about that...
Actually it isn't.......expensive bland food and they essentially put a retail store in the restaurant so you can peruse overpriced bowling shirts while waiting for a table.
Actually it isn't.......expensive bland food and they essentially put a retail store in the restaurant so you can peruse overpriced bowling shirts while waiting for a table.
Dunno, I liked my dinner at Tommy Bahama's in St Armand's Circle in Sarasota a few weeks ago.
As a tourist to the area maybe I can offer a viewpoint. Maybe tourists don't spend a lot of time and money there because it's boring?
I think one problem Florida in general has, and Ft Lauderdale in particular, is that you all think tourists are either two parents and three kids who think Cheesecake Factory is 5 star dining or old rich people in shorts and Hawaiian shirts and just get in your way. The problem I always find in Ft Lauderdale, both as a single guy but also traveling with others, is that it just lacks compared to what I have seen elsewhere. Even the independent restaurants aren't all that great, and certainly not authentic. Retail is the same stuff you can find at any other gift shop up and down the coast, and there are practically no museums or attractions. Even worse, with all your expanse of waterways, it is so inaccessible. Riverwalk only goes a short ways and is behind everything. That should be the center of life.
I think the overall problem is a cultural thing - Florida is for the rich who can afford it. If you can't change a whole lot about what you have to offer, I think you might be better off going after different markets instead.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.