Art Basel Miami Beach kicks off South Florida’s high tourism season, driving up hotel rates

The annual Art Basel Miami Beach show arrives this weekend, and top end hotels are asking — and getting — premium prices. The Delano’s least expensive rooms are fetching $825 a night this weekend, compared to $345 next weekend. Once the art festival ends, the start of the area’s heavy tourism season will quickly reveal how much of a rebound the industry will see. Premium events like the Super Bowl and the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which happen in eight weeks, will give the hotel business a lift, but won’t get the sector out of trouble, most industry insiders say. Forecasts by consulting group PKF Hospitality Research suggest Miami-Dade hotels’ per-room revenue, or revpar, is headed for a 2010 drop of 6 percent from this year, when revpar rates skidded 23 percent; Broward hotels should do a bit better, with a 4 percent drop forecast for 2010 after 2009’s 17 percent decline. [Miami Herald]