hospitality

Katlin Svadbik and Mauricio Aristides are co-workers. She’s 25 years old, from Miami, and is finishing her sophomore year at New World School of the Arts College.  He’s 49 years old, born in Chile, grew up all around South America, studied archaeology in Mexico and came to South Florida in 2005.

A Miami-based rapper. A second-tier English soccer club and a sports car racing team.

What ties them together is Visit Florida, the state group that markets Florida to tourists across the country and across the globe. What also ties these three together is they provided the ammunition for opponents of using taxpayer money to promote tourism.

During the Great Recession, the cruise industry canceled or postponed building and introducing new cruise liners trying to conserve cash as passenger traffic was hurt by the sour economy. Now, those ships are entering the oceans and many of them have South Florida ports of call.

08/08/13 - Thursday’s Topical Currents begins with luxury hotel employee Jacob Tomsky, author of the hotel memoir HEADS IN BEDS.  He started as a parking valet, and then managed housekeeping at a top New York City hotel, before going behind the front desk. He has many tales to tell:  from how to get free movies in your room, or ransack the mini-bar at no charge.  Want a room upgrade?  Give a nice tip upon check-in. And more . . .