Miami Beach plans to boost economy by attracting businesses
- City leaders say Miami Beach is seeing rising economic activity, including a 7% year-over-year increase in resort sales tax in December.
- The strategy pairs business attraction with major events, using conferences and conventions to bring industry leaders to the city.
- Commercial corridors—Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street—are central to the plan.
- A business-recruitment push, the “Make a Bold Move” campaign first launched in 2022, is set to relaunch in the spring.
Economic Goals of Miami Beach for 2026
Miami Beach’s economic message for 2026 is built around momentum: keep the tourism engine strong while widening the base of businesses that choose to locate, expand, renovate, and invest in the city. Mayor Steven Meiner framed the goal in practical terms—more activity, more investment, and measurable results that show up in citywide indicators.
Those indicators, city leaders argue, are already moving in the right direction. Meiner pointed to a year-over-year increase in resort sales tax in December and highlighted hotel performance around New Year’s Eve, when he said Miami Beach’s hotel room rate ranked number one in the world. The city’s pitch is that strong demand is not only good for hospitality; it also signals confidence that can translate into broader business decisions.
At the same time, the city is emphasizing that Miami Beach is not trying to become a single-industry economy. Meiner described interest from a wide range of businesses—from restaurants to financial firms—suggesting a deliberate effort to position the city as both a global visitor destination and a place where companies can put capital to work.
Economic Development Director Steven Anthony described the approach as twofold: strengthen and expand commercial corridors while leveraging events to attract the kinds of decision-makers who can bring companies with them. In practice, that means focusing on the places where commerce already clusters, improving the experience and infrastructure, and then using targeted events to create introductions and relationships that can turn into leases, office openings, and long-term commitments.
The city’s stated ambition is not simply to increase foot traffic or fill storefronts for a season. It is to make Miami Beach easier to do business in—smoother processes, clearer pathways, and a more compelling case that the city offers “quality experiences” even when the broader economy feels uncertain.
Recent Growth in Resort Sales Tax
Resort sales tax is one of the clearest snapshots of how Miami Beach’s visitor economy is performing, and city leaders are using it as proof that the market remains strong. Meiner said the city’s resort sales tax was up 7% in December compared with the same month a year earlier, a year-over-year gain he cited as evidence that “a lot of good things are happening” and that the results are “reflected in the numbers.”
That kind of increase matters politically and economically because it supports the argument that Miami Beach can continue to invest in the public realm—projects that make commercial areas more attractive to visitors and residents alike—while also marketing itself to new types of businesses. In the city’s narrative, rising tourism-related revenue is not the end goal; it is the fuel that helps fund improvements and sustain the brand that draws people in.
Meiner also pointed to a marquee moment: New Year’s Eve, when he said Miami Beach’s hotel room rate was number one in the world. Even without additional figures, the implication is clear: premium pricing power signals demand, and demand signals a market where businesses—especially those tied to hospitality, dining, and high-end services—can justify expansion or new openings.
The city is also using these tourism metrics to support a broader claim about diversity. Miami Beach remains “a major tourist attraction,” Meiner said, but he paired that with the observation that businesses are showing interest in moving to the city, expanding, renovating, and investing capital locally. The logic is that a strong visitor economy can coexist with, and even encourage, growth in office uses and professional services—particularly when the city can offer a high-profile setting and steady flow of affluent customers and clients.
For economic development officials, the resort tax bump is therefore both a scoreboard and a sales tool: it demonstrates that the city is busy, that the brand remains powerful, and that the environment can support a mix of tenants beyond the traditional beach-and-hotel model.
Types of Businesses Targeted for Attraction
Miami Beach’s recruitment posture is intentionally broad, reflecting what city leaders describe as a diverse economy. Meiner said the city is seeing interest from businesses that want to move to Miami Beach as well as those looking to expand, renovate, and “put in capital to work” locally. That phrasing is telling: the city is not only chasing new logos; it is also trying to encourage existing and incoming firms to invest in physical space and long-term presence.
The range of businesses mentioned by the mayor spans both street-level commerce and finance. On one end are restaurants—high-visibility, high-turnover businesses that shape the feel of commercial corridors and can quickly change the perception of a district. On the other end are family offices, hedge funds, and venture capital funds opening new office space. Those categories point to a different kind of economic development: firms that may not rely on walk-in traffic, but can bring high-wage jobs, professional networks, and year-round activity that is less seasonal than tourism.
This mix also aligns with the city’s emphasis on “quality experiences,” a theme Anthony raised when discussing how people spend during uncertain economic periods. Restaurants and hospitality-adjacent businesses can capitalize on visitors seeking premium experiences, while financial firms may be attracted by the city’s profile, lifestyle appeal, and the ability to host clients in a globally recognized destination.
Importantly, the city’s approach does not read as a single-sector bet. Instead, it suggests a portfolio strategy: keep the tourism base strong, strengthen the corridors that support retail and dining, and make room for office users—particularly those in investment and capital markets—who may be looking for new space.
That diversity is also a hedge. If one segment slows, another may continue to perform. City leaders did not describe specific incentives or quotas; the emphasis was on creating awareness of what Miami Beach offers and making the process of locating in the city as smooth as possible, with the economic development department positioned as a guide for businesses at each step.
Expansion of Commercial Corridors
Commercial corridors are the physical backbone of Miami Beach’s business-attraction strategy, and city officials are treating them as both an economic development tool and a quality-of-life project. Anthony described the city’s approach as twofold, with corridors playing a “key role” in how Miami Beach plans to bring in a stronger mix of tenants and support ongoing investment.
The logic is straightforward: corridors are where businesses meet customers, where visitors form impressions, and where the city can most visibly demonstrate that it is investing in the public realm. When corridors feel active, accessible, and well-maintained, they become easier to market to prospective tenants—whether that tenant is a restaurant operator looking for foot traffic or a professional firm that wants a recognizable address near amenities.
Anthony pointed to “great activity” along Lincoln Road, including new businesses moving into the area. He also referenced work such as pedestrianization and capital projects intended to improve infrastructure. Those improvements are not framed as cosmetic; they are presented as part of a strategy to make corridors function better and to create conditions that support a healthier tenant mix.
The city’s focus extends beyond a single marquee street. Anthony listed multiple corridors where Miami Beach is putting strategies in place: Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street. The stated goal is to “continue to expand and build” on these corridors, ensuring that businesses and property owners have what they need to invest and operate.
A second geographic priority is North Beach. Anthony said the city wants to “carry the momentum” happening there, given ongoing projects, while doing so in a way that remains beneficial to surrounding residents. That framing suggests an attempt to balance development with neighborhood impacts—an important consideration when corridor improvements and new tenants can change patterns of traffic, noise, and daily life.
Focus Areas for Development
Miami Beach’s corridor strategy is anchored in specific places that already function as commercial spines. Anthony’s list—Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street—reads like a map of the city’s most recognizable and economically active streets, spanning retail, dining, hospitality, and visitor-oriented commerce.
Lincoln Road is described as a current hotspot of activity, with new businesses moving in. The city is also linking Lincoln Road’s momentum to changes in how the street works, including pedestrianization efforts. The emphasis is not simply on filling vacancies; it is on shaping an environment that supports sustained demand and a stronger mix of tenants.
Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street are presented as additional focus areas where the city is putting strategies in place to “effectively bring a mix” of tenants. The phrase “mix tenants” signals a desire to avoid overreliance on any single category of business and to create corridors that serve multiple audiences—tourists, residents, and workers.
North Beach is the other major development focus mentioned explicitly. Anthony described it as an area with ongoing projects and momentum that the city wants to maintain. But he added a qualifier: the work should remain beneficial to surrounding residents. That suggests the city is aware that commercial growth can create friction if it feels disconnected from neighborhood needs.
Taken together, the focus areas reflect a city trying to strengthen what it already has—well-known streets with established brands—while also ensuring that growth reaches beyond the most famous blocks and supports broader community goals.
Infrastructure Improvements
Infrastructure is being treated as a prerequisite for business attraction, not an afterthought. Anthony cited “capital projects” along Lincoln Road aimed at improving infrastructure, tying those investments to the broader goal of expanding and strengthening commercial corridors.
He also referenced pedestrianization as part of the work happening on Lincoln Road. While the city did not detail specific designs or timelines in the remarks cited, the intent is clear: changes to the street environment are meant to improve how people move through and experience the corridor. For retail and restaurants, that can translate into longer dwell times and more comfortable foot traffic. For the city’s brand, it signals that Miami Beach is investing in the public realm in ways that match its premium positioning.
The infrastructure conversation is also linked to tenant strategy. Anthony framed the corridor work as ensuring that “folks have what they need” to continue building in Miami Beach. That can be read as a commitment to making corridors functional for operators and attractive for customers—two sides of the same economic development equation.
Beyond Lincoln Road, the city’s corridor list implies that similar thinking—pairing tenant strategy with physical improvements—could be applied across Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street. The underlying premise is that business recruitment is easier when the city can point to tangible upgrades and a clear plan for how commercial districts will evolve.
Role of Events in Economic Development
Miami Beach is leaning on events not just to fill hotel rooms, but to build a pipeline for business attraction. Anthony described a strategy that uses conferences and conventions as a way to bring industry leaders to the city, create connections, and ultimately encourage businesses to locate in Miami Beach.
A key partner in that effort is the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Anthony said the relationship is “leaning into” making sure Miami Beach attracts certain types of conferences and conventions, using the convention center as a major asset. The emphasis is on specialization: targeting events aligned with industries the city wants to recruit, rather than treating all conventions as equal.
The mechanism is networking with intent. Anthony described the idea as connecting with the people who come for those specialized conventions—leaders and decision-makers—and leveraging that presence to attract businesses “specifically to Miami Beach.” In other words, the event is not the endpoint; it is the opening meeting.
This approach fits Miami Beach’s broader narrative of being a place where people want to be. If the city can host a high-value industry gathering, it can also showcase its commercial corridors, its hospitality infrastructure, and its lifestyle appeal. For firms considering expansion—particularly those in finance and investment categories mentioned by the mayor—events can provide a low-friction reason to visit, evaluate, and imagine a local footprint.
The city’s leaders also appear to see events as a way to reinforce the “quality experiences” theme. Conventions and major gatherings bring visitors who often spend at restaurants, hotels, and local businesses, supporting the same economic indicators the mayor highlighted. At the same time, they can seed longer-term relationships that outlast a weekend or a conference schedule.
In this framing, economic development becomes partly a convening business: get the right people into the city, create the right introductions, and make it easy for interest to turn into investment.
Relaunch of the Make a Bold Move Campaign
Miami Beach is preparing to relaunch its “Make a Bold Move” campaign in the spring, reviving an initiative that was initially launched in 2022. Anthony described the campaign as focused on attracting businesses to move to the city, with an emphasis on awareness and ease of process.
The relaunch is positioned as a “reemphasis” on what Miami Beach offers and why it should be considered not only as a destination but as a place to do business. The campaign’s purpose, as Anthony described it, is twofold: help prospective businesses understand the city’s value proposition and communicate that Miami Beach is working to make relocation or expansion smoother.
That second point—process—appears central to the pitch. Anthony said there has been “a lot of effort within the city, within economic development specifically,” to make the process “as easy as possible.” He added that his department “stands ready to certainly assist businesses each step of the way.” The message is that Miami Beach is not simply marketing itself; it is offering hands-on guidance through whatever steps are required to establish or expand a presence.
The timing of the relaunch also matters in the context of the city’s other priorities. With corridor work underway and events being used as a business-development tool, a marketing campaign can serve as the connective tissue—turning on-the-ground improvements and high-profile gatherings into a coherent narrative for site selectors, entrepreneurs, and firms considering new office space.
The campaign’s name—“Make a Bold Move”—signals the kind of decision the city wants to inspire: a relocation, an expansion, a renovation, or a new investment. Miami Beach’s leadership is effectively arguing that the city’s current momentum, reflected in tourism performance and business interest, makes 2026 a logical moment to take that step.
Strategic Partnerships for Business Attraction
Partnerships are at the center of Miami Beach’s plan to convert visibility into investment, and the most prominent relationship cited by city officials is with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Anthony described that relationship as a strategic lever: by working together to attract the right conferences and conventions, Miami Beach can bring targeted industries—and their leaders—into direct contact with the city.
The convention center is described as a “great asset” in this strategy. Rather than treating it as a general-purpose venue, the city’s approach is to use it as a platform for specialization. Anthony’s comments suggest a deliberate effort to align event recruitment with business recruitment: choose events that match the industries Miami Beach wants to grow, then use the presence of those attendees to build relationships that could lead to office openings or other investments.
This partnership-driven approach also reflects a practical reality: economic development is rarely accomplished by a single department acting alone. In Anthony’s framing, the CVB helps deliver the audience—conference-goers and industry leaders—while the city’s economic development team focuses on connection and conversion, making sure those visitors see a clear pathway to doing business locally.
The partnership model also complements the city’s marketing push. A campaign like “Make a Bold Move” can generate interest, but events and institutional partners can provide the face-to-face moments that often determine whether interest becomes action. When a city can host a specialized convention, showcase its commercial corridors, and offer direct assistance through an economic development office, it reduces friction for businesses that might otherwise look elsewhere.
Miami Beach’s leaders did not list additional partners in the remarks cited, but the emphasis on the CVB relationship underscores the city’s belief that business attraction is tied to how effectively it can curate who comes to town—and what happens once they arrive.
Market Trends Influencing Business Decisions
Miami Beach’s business-attraction strategy is being shaped by a market dynamic Anthony described as “flight-to-quality.” In periods of high economic uncertainty, he said, investors tend to move toward safer investments and people “want quality experiences.” That observation is important because it frames Miami Beach’s pitch not as a bargain play, but as a value-and-quality proposition.
Anthony argued that Miami Beach stands out even when people are more cautious with spending. His reasoning is that, in a potentially tightening economy—where there may be a general slowdown and people are evaluating how to use their money—Miami Beach can still look compelling because visitors and investors feel they are “getting value for what they’re spending.”
This is a subtle but significant positioning. Rather than denying uncertainty, the city is acknowledging it and claiming that Miami Beach benefits from it, at least in certain segments. If consumers and investors concentrate spending on fewer, higher-quality choices, then destinations and districts perceived as premium can capture a larger share of that concentrated demand.
That trend also connects back to the types of businesses the mayor said are showing interest. Restaurants that trade on experience and atmosphere can align with a quality-driven consumer. Financial firms—family offices, hedge funds, venture capital funds—may also be influenced by flight-to-quality thinking, particularly if they are seeking stable, high-profile locations and environments that support client relationships.
The city’s corridor strategy fits this market lens as well. Pedestrianization, infrastructure improvements, and efforts to curate a better tenant mix are all ways to reinforce a “quality” experience on the ground. If Miami Beach wants to benefit from flight-to-quality, it has to ensure that the streets where people shop, dine, and meet feel consistent with that promise.
In short, the trend Miami Beach is watching is not just about macroeconomics; it is about perception. The city is betting that its brand, combined with visible improvements and targeted outreach, can make it a preferred choice when businesses and consumers become more selective.
Miami Beach’s Economic Growth and Business Attraction Strategies
Miami Beach’s 2026 playbook, as described by city leaders, is a blend of measurable tourism strength and targeted business recruitment. The mayor’s emphasis on rising resort sales tax and standout hotel pricing is meant to show that the city’s core engine is running hot. The economic development director’s emphasis on corridors, events, and a relaunched campaign is meant to show that Miami Beach is trying to turn that momentum into a broader, more resilient business base.
The strategy is not presented as a dramatic reinvention. Instead, it is an effort to connect existing assets—global visibility, busy streets, a major convention center—with a more intentional approach to who the city recruits and how it supports them once they show interest.
The Role of Events in Business Development
Events are being treated as a recruitment channel. By working with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau to attract specialized conferences and conventions, Miami Beach aims to bring industry leaders into the city and then “connect with those folks” in ways that can lead to business relocation or expansion.
The convention center is central to that plan, serving as the venue that can draw targeted audiences. The city’s bet is that when the right people come for the right reasons, the city can do more than host them—it can convert their visit into a longer-term economic relationship.
Strategies for Enhancing Commercial Corridors
Commercial corridors are where Miami Beach can most visibly demonstrate progress. Lincoln Road is cited as an example, with new businesses moving in alongside pedestrianization and infrastructure-focused capital projects. The broader corridor list—Washington Avenue, Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue, and 41st Street—signals a citywide effort to strengthen the places where commerce clusters.
North Beach is also part of the corridor-and-momentum story, with the city aiming to support ongoing projects while keeping outcomes beneficial to surrounding residents. Across these areas, the stated objective is to build on what’s working, improve the physical environment, and create conditions that attract a stronger mix of tenants—making Miami Beach not only busy, but strategically positioned for the kinds of businesses it wants next.