Miami's Birthday:

July 28, 1896

Geography:

Miami-Dade County area: 1,955 square miles / 3,145 square kilometers Elevation: 12 feet / 3.6 meters / 15+ miles of beaches

Climate:

Subtropical annual average daily temperature: 76 degrees Fahrenheit / 23 degrees Celsius
Year-round sunshine

Recreation:

800+ parks, including Crandon Beach County Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, also home to two unique national parks, Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. Award-winning tennis and golf are popular here, as well as water sports, such as wake boarding, parasailing, windsurfing, wave-running and jet-skiing.

Demographics

Miami-Dade County population: 2.8 million+
Ethnic breakdown: White 12.9%, Hispanic 69.4%, Black 17.7%
Median household income: $50,000

Government:

35 municipalities, including Miami-Dade County, City of Miami, City of Miami Beach and Bal Harbour Village

Lodging:

533 hotels, 62,856 rooms

Transportation:

PortMiami Tunnel: The Port Tunnel has improved access to and from PortMiami serving as a dedicated roadway connector linking Port facilities with Florida’s Interstate System. In addition to providing quicker access for Port-bound trucks and automobiles, the Port Tunnel is designed to reduce traffic congestion on downtown Miami streets. The tunnel is comprised of two side-by-side tubes that carry traffic underneath Biscayne Bay.

Brightline, is America's first major private intercity passenger railroad in over a century. Brightline launched service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach in May 2018. Brightline currently has plans to expand to Orlando and Tampa by 2023 and beyond.

Miami International Airport (MIA):

MIA offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other airport in the U.S.
It is America’s third-busiest airport for international passengers, boasting a lineup over 100 air carriers and is the top U.S. airport for international freight.
MIA is also the leading economic engine for Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida, generating business revenue of $31.9 billion annually and approximately 60 percent of all international visitors to Florida.

New Flight Services in 2021 and Beyond:

Spirit Airlines
Launched service for the first time. Began October 6th and will serve 31 cities by January 2022

SAS
Seasonal service from Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo

Finnair
Seasonal service from Helsinki and Stockholm

Frontier Airlines
Began new service from Aruba November 30

Air Transat
Launched for the first time on December 14, 2021. Montreal – 3x per week

LOT
Increased to 3x weekly December 2021

WestJet
Returned December 16, 2021. Toronto – 4x weekly

Air Canada
Returned to service in November 2021 – Montreal and Toronto

Royal Air Marco
Returned December 2021 - Casablanca

Lufthansa
Returned to service to Munich in November 2021

Red Air (Charter Carrier)
Launched new route to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – 2x daily

Alaska Airlines
Once-daily MIA/SEA roundtrip, starting June 16, 2022

American Airlines

Operating seasonal flights from November 6 to April 4, 2022 Albany, New York, Burlington, Vermont, Madison, Wisconsin, Syracuse, New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma
Began service from Paris (CDG) in October 2021
Began service from Toronto, Canada in November 2021
Began service from Fort de France, Martinique in November 2021
Began service from Chetumal, Mexico December 2021
Began service from San Andres Island, Colombia December 2021

PortMiami:

PortMiami, “Cruise Capital of the World™,” welcomed over 6 million passengers in 2019. With more than 20 cruise brands and over 50 ships Miami continues to be the departure destination of choice for cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico & other exciting destinations.
Miami is home to the world’s leading cruise lines: Aida Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International.
PortMiami is Miami’s second most important economic engine, contributing $43 billion annually to the local economy and supporting more than 334,500 jobs in South Florida.

Professional Teams:

Miami Marlins (MLB)
Miami Heat (NBA)
Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Inter Miami CF (MLS) – Miami home stadium in the works
Florida Panthers (NHL)
Miami FC (USL)

Fun Facts:

Greater Miami and Miami Beach welcomes the highest percentage of international visitors than any other destination in the country.
“Miami’s Cuban Coffee rated by Forbes Traveler as one of the country’s best “street food”
Miami Beach’s Art Deco District contains the world’s largest collection of Art Deco Architecture (800+ buildings)
Greater Miami and Miami Beach is the Wreckreational Diving Capital of the World, containing Miami over 50 diveable wreck sites—such as ships, oil platforms, army tanks and the Spirit of Miami Boeing 727 jet-- sunken to provide artificial reefs for marine life.
Miami is also home to the largest concentration of Boutique Hotels in the world.
Miami Beach is a man-made island that was once a Coconut Grove Plantation.
Julia Tuttle, -- the "Mother of Miami" -- convinced Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler to extend his railroad from central Florida to Miami, build a luxury hotel, and lay out a new town. She did so by sending him perfect Miami orange blossoms during a crop freeze north of Miami. The railroad arrived in 1896. The City of Miami was incorporated on July 28 that same year. The city of Miami is the only major city in the U.S. to be planned by a woman.
Miami is home to the world’s only Everglades eco-system, made famous in Marjorie Stoneman Douglas’ book The River of Grass.
Miami is home to 150+ ethnicities and 60+ languages
Miami’s unique sport of Jai-Alai features pelotas which are recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as traveling up to 75 mph.
Miami was a mangrove swamp before its development started in the 1920s. What is now a glittering city was once a mosquito infested swamp, with no deep-water port, railroad, or air conditioning. It wasn’t until the extension of a railroad system from West Palm Beach to Miami in the 1920s that the development of the destination started.
Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine (ATM) specially designed for roller-bladers. In-line skaters weren’t always the most popular customers in Miami’s banks and shops. In 1996, Citibank’s Miami Beach branch came up with an innovative solution to help roller-bladers access their funds – they set up an ATM outside the bank with a ramp leading up to it.
Miami has more than 800 parks and is the only city in the US that is bordered by two separate national parks – Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. Countless other parks situated downtown, oceanside and in the suburbs provide opportunities for picnics, watersports, fishing, and hikes.
Sunscreen was invented by a Miami Beach physician. In the 1940s, Benjamin Green developed a lotion for WWII soldiers stationed in the South Pacific. He reportedly produced the world’s first sunscreen, a red-colored petroleum gel, in his own kitchen. After the war, he improved his formula which was then manufactured by Coppertone.
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) earned the Grand Prize for the Port of Miami Tunnel in the 2015 America's Transportation Awards competition.

What They're Saying:

Miami Beach named the Leading Destination in North America by the World Travel Awards in November 2020.
Café La Trova in Little Havana named Best American Bar Team winning a 2020 Spirited Award by the coveted World’s 50 Best Bars. Café La Trova came in as the 70th best bar in the world.
Setai, Miami Beach, voted as the Leading Beach Hotel by the World Travel Awards and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, voted Leading Hotel in Florida by the World Travel Awards in November 2020.
Miami named as one of the world’s best cities to visit in 2019 by Lonely Planet.
The travel website TrekBible included Miami in its article of “11 Best Weekend Getaways in the U.S.”
Wynwood included in TripAdvisor’s list of “14 Coolest Hipster Neighborhoods in the USA”
Miami ranked #8 Best Large City in the Resonance 2019 America's Best Cities Index
PETA named Miami one of the top ten vegan friendly cities in 2018.
Expedia included Miami in its roundup of “11 U.S. Cities that Feel Like International Destinations”
Miami included in Trips to Discover’s roundup of the “12 Best Atlantic Coast Beaches in Florida” as well as their roundup of the “12 Best Places to Go Paddle Boarding in Florida”
Travel+Leisure listed Miami as one of the 20 Most Fun Cities in America and one of the Best U.S. Cities for a Romantic Urban Honeymoon
Miami named one of the “Best U.S. Beach Towns to Live In” according to Travel + Leisure
Finance website, SmartAsset, ranked Miami as the number one city for foodies in the country
Trips to Discover featured Miami on its list of Top 10 Must-Visit Christmas Towns in Florida
Miami named 13th best U.S. city for vegans and vegetarians, according to a WalletHub study.
The U.S. News & World Report ranked Miami as #1 in “Best Places to Visit in January,” #9 in “Best Shopping Destinations in the U.S.A.,” and #11 in “Best Weekend Getaways”
Miami ranked #4 in “The 30 Most Fun Cities in America” according to a WalletHub study
Miami ranked #7 with the most art-buying customers in the U.S. according to a report from Artfinder. Miami is home to North America’s only Art Basel show, attracting over 100,000 visitors from all over the world each year.
Escape Here, listed Miami as one of the Best Food Truck Cities in America
Millennials are flocking to Miami’s tourism and entrepreneur industries, making it the 2nd most desired city for millennials according to Realtor.com
Downtown Miami’s population has more than doubled since 2000, from 40,000 to 92,000+, driving businesses and millennials to the area, according to AP News.

Revised: February 2022