MIAMI-The numbers are in and the tourism industry here once again hit new highs in 2013. For the fourth year in a row, the number of overnight visitors to Miami-Dade broke previous records.

Last year a total of 14.2 million overnight visitors flocked to Miami-Dade, according to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Although the pace of tourism growth in the region slowed, the 2013 total marks a 2.2% increase over 2012's numbers, according to the Miami Herald.

Looking forward, Rolando Aedo, chief marketing officer for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, says of the four-year record-setting streak, “We consider it one of our greatest challenges to sustain that, but we're confident we can.”

“What's happening is that as we have become more of a luxury destination, what those visitors spend goes up,” says William Talbert III, president and CEO of the tourism bureau. Visitor expenditures in 2013 increased 4.6% as compared to a year earlier, reaching $22.8 billion. Average daily room rates increased more than 8% to approximately $177. See story in the Miami Herald.

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