Miami is gearing up for a glorious 2026 with a number of major meetings and hospitality projects opened, set to debut or nearing the end of their construction pipeline, resulting in upping the leisure travel magnet’s profile in the meetings and conventions industry.
The most relevant project to the meetings and events industry was the groundbreaking of Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center. Scheduled for a 2027 opening, it will bring an 800-room headquarters hotel attached directly to the convention center, a long-awaited offering sure to draw the attention of meeting planners and open the city up to larger groups. The hotel itself will contain 90,000 square feet of indoor meeting and conference space along with 10,000 square feet of outdoor space.
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“Obviously, the word game-changer is often overused,” said David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami CVB, during an interview at ASAE’s 2025 Annual Meeting & Exposition. “It really is a game-changer. This will bring 800 rooms connected on the campus and under our control. We’ll be able to negotiate a 600-room block there because of the booking agreement that we’ll have with the city—it’s a public asset. We’ve had headquarters hotels nearby—two blocks away. Or we put folks in three hotels next to each other three blocks away, right? But never under one roof, physically. That’s a huge selling point.”
Key venue openings include the Dream Miami at Riverside Wharf, Virgin Hotels Miami and Thompson Miami Beach, opening in late 2025 with an additional 200 rooms across the street from the Grand Hyatt. The city will also welcome Miami Freedom Park, a $1 billion stadium and mixed-use district opening next year, along with the new indoor-outdoor Miami Live! at LoanDepot Park entertainment and dining complex.
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Whitaker said Miami is also hot in terms of hotel occupancy, with hotel market research company STR reporting it finished the first six months of 2025 with the third-highest occupancy rate in the U.S. He added that the destination is gearing up to add a number of five-star hotels from luxury brands such as Waldorf Astoria and Bvlgari.
“The competition’s never been more fierce,” Whitaker said of the battle for conventions between major cities. “What’s the best way to win in competition? Best product, best experience, exceed expectations. In Miami, because of where we’ve evolved, we are able to deliver on all those things.”
The sum of all of Miami's new parts adds up to a visitor experience that will rival any destination in the U.S.
"It's just more of an experience as soon as they step off the plane," said Carol Motley, senior vice president of convention sales and services for the Greater Miami CVB. "And then they get downtown, then they get to the beach, and they have these world-class hotels, and they have a hotel attached to the convention center. And the international food scene is just incredible, right? It just really helps our profile."
