Community VoicesPresentation to city is a prelude to the new countywide tourism master plan.
More people than ever are coming to Palm Beach County and Riviera Beach, the City Council learned this month.
“We are happy to be here and bring our road show, our tourism road show, for the first time to Riviera Beach,” Sergio Pedra, senior director intergovernmental affairs for Discover the Palm Beaches, told council members on March 4.
The presentation is part of the agency’s “visit a city” campaign. Officials demonstrated how they use data and demographic information to target individuals who are interested in Riviera Beach specifically, as well as other parts of Palm Beach County.
The marketing focus differed for various visitor segments including Singles and Starters and Young City Solos.
Tourism officials are working to attract visitors by meeting hotel demand and using focused marketing strategies to attract them.
The officials also presented data showing that most residents agree that tourism improves their quality of life.
Tourism master plan is coming
Even without all the planned redevelopment projects coming online in Riviera, the city’s tourism grew from 333,000 in 2023 to 372,000 for the 12 months ending in November 2025, they said. The county as a whole welcomed 10.7 million visitors.
“We have a tourism master plan for the county,” said Gustav Weibull, senior vice president of Discover the Palm Beaches, “which will be finalized towards the end of the month.” It will include sustainability strategies to disperse tourism more equitably throughout the county, and “ensure that not just one individual city or cluster of cities or regions within the county get all the tourism.”
Their goal is to keep 2025’s momentum going through innovation and engagement by building a working relationship.
This county has become an international destination for visitors, jobs and industries, which will never leave, they said.
“We’re never going to be Miami,” Pedra said. “We’re never going to be Fort Lauderdale. We’re never going to be Orlando, but we are the Palm Beaches. And our brand has become an international brand.”
Everything begins with a visit, he said, which can bring attention to the beauty Riviera offers. The result is opportunities to live here, and also work and invest here.
“Our job at Discover the Palm Beaches isn’t just to drive tourism, but also build our community. And we believe in our community … and we can always say that we represent you out there to the world.”
Get in where you fit in, is how the officials seemed to respond to City Manager Jonathan Evans’ query regarding how to access the 6% tax on each overnight stay in a hotel, which finances the tourism agency. Pedra directed him to review the infrastructure, environmental resource management and cultural portions of the tax collections.
Riviera Beach first
Council Member Fercella Davis Panier expressed appreciation for the effort to highlight the entire city, adding that in much of the marketing, “you would see Riviera Beach, but it’s only Singer Island or Palm Beach Shores. And we just want to make sure that we’re marketing Singer Island as a part of Riviera Beach.”
It was Singer Island and then Riviera Beach when he started 26 years ago, Pedra said, “but now Riviera Beach is first and it will remain that way.”
Who wrote this story: This story was reported by Community Voices writers Micaja Etienne and Kelvin Verhovlyak.
What is CV: Community Voices is a partnership between Stet News and Inlet Grove High School. Stet News is underwriting the pilot to train and pay students to cover Riviera Beach.
Inlet Grove journalism teacher C.B. Hanif and Stet’s Liz Capozzi contributed to this story.
