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Week of March 31, 2005 |
| Joint mission aims to drum up New York business By Claudio MendonçaMiami envisions a big-money bite out of the Big Apple via a joint Beacon Council-Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau marketing mission to New York. "We have the same target as the bureau, and that is to attract bring all kinds of business to Miami-Dade" on the April 12-15 trip, said Joe Martinez, senior vice president at the Beacon Council. "We will have a full agenda during these three days." "It's an opportunity to meet with current and prospective customers," said bureau President William Talbert III. About 20% of county visitors come from the Northeast, half from New York - 1.3 million. In 2004, the number of New York visitors increased 6.5% from 2003. The trip is part of a 44-city bureau tour promoting summer travel. While bureau officials talk to tour operators and meeting planners, Mr. Talbert will go to National Football League headquarters to promote Miami as host of Super Bowl XXXI in 2009. The council and bureau will host a dinner for the press, meeting planners, tour operators, potential investors and site selectors that help corporations find potential locations. Beacon Council members are targeting financial institutions, real estate and biomedical companies interested in Florida and Latin America. On a similar mission two years ago, the council met with Kraft Foods executives. Kraft subsequently moved its Latin American division to Coral Gables and today employs about 100 here. Mr. Martinez said missions also led to companies such as the American Insurance Group moving to Miami. Beacon executive committee members on the mission include Chairman Ben Mollere, Biltmore Hotel vice president of sales; Angel Medina, president of Regions Bank in Miami-Dade; Alan Becker, attorney at Becker & Poliakoff; and Glenn Cooper, partner at Glenn M. Cooper and Associates.
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