Why tourism matters to Miami-Dade County residents

• Across Miami-Dade County’s 34 municipalities, the benefits of tourism are realized by locals and help protect our unique cultures and neighborhoods.
• A robust and resilient tourism industry supports Miami-Dade County businesses and jobs while enhancing residents’ quality of life.
• The numbers tell a clear story, tourism is an undeniable driver of our local economy and makes a tangible difference in residents’ lives.
  • For every dollar invested in Miami-Dade County tourism marketing, $63 are generated in return on investment.
  • The tourism industry supports 200,000 jobs (direct, indirect) and for every 181 visitors, 1 job is created.
  • Visitors spending contributed $11 billion in Miami-Dade County wages
  • More than $2 billion in tax revenues (local and state) were generated by visitors in 2023. This resulted in:
    • Each Miami-Dade County household receiving more than $2,200 in annual tax savings
    • Enough revenues to pay the salaries of 38,000 police officers.

Tourist Development Tax (TDT) overview

• The TDT is a “bed” or “resort” tax charged to hotel, motel and short-term rental guests. It is paid for mostly by visitors, not residents.
  • In Miami-Dade County, the current TDT is 2%, with exceptions in Miami Beach, Surfside and Bal Harbor (4% respectively)
• TDT revenues and resulting visitor sales taxes contribute to covering costs that residents don’t have to pay and help create a better quality of life for locals by supporting improvements in education, public safety, transportation, arts & culture programs and other community services.
  • For instance, more than 730 cultural grants were issued to organizations and individuals in Miami-Dade with the support of tourist development tax dollars.
• Unlike broader state sales or other local taxes, TDT’s are also reinvested in projects that drive tourism growth and help promote the destination.

Why tourism marketing is important

• Every great global brand understands the importance of marketing. Coke, Nike and Apple are all market leaders because they make smart investments in distinguishing their products from others.
• The “Miami” global brand sets it apart as a leisure and business destination. Being able to fund the marketing that supports that brand is essential to competing against other destinations vying for meetings, leisure and business travel dollars.
• Tourism marketing is the tip of the spear for advancing economic development. In addition to driving leisure and business travel, these visits have ancillary impacts, from purchasing real estate and starting local businesses to opening regional offices.

Why protecting the TDT and TDC’s are important to Miami-Dade County

• Florida tourism is stronger today because of actions taken by our elected leadership almost 50 years ago to support tourist development taxes. They can take credit for triggering a return on investment from visitor-generated sales taxes that allow households in our community to save $2,200 annually. Without this continued commitment to protect the TDT, the very same household tax benefits we receive would be stripped away.
• Miami-Dade County is competing globally for leisure and business travelers. We must remain top-of-mind in promoting our destination and the TDT helps us do that. Otherwise, other markets will woo our visitors away.
• The TDT is paid for mostly by visitors. By reallocating where these funds go, the community benefits they enable from the added generation of sales taxes and how tourism marketing programs are funded disappear and that means the revenues must come from other places.
• The TDT contributes to the economic multiplier effect of tourism. In Miami, for each dollar invested in promotion, this yields up to $63 in economic impact.
• Florida just celebrated its sixth consecutive record-breaking year in tourism, and Miami-Dade has enjoyed similar success. Now is the time to invest in what’s powering our economy, and the TDT plays a vital role.
• Tourist Development Council’s (TDC) give local voices the ability to ensure TDTs and other tax-funded programs celebrate communities and what makes them unique.