TOURISM, ARTS CONSTRUCTION & CULTURE OVERVIEW
in February 2021 as the only Hyatt product in the Downtown submarket and the Tampa Edition hotel will also open in 2021. Hotel Haya is a newly opened 178-room four-story boutique hotel on Seventh Avenue. Other recent openings include a Home2Suites and Hampton Inn, Hyatt House on Avion Park and the Hotel Alba, which replaces the old Crowne Plaza Westshore. Arts and culture The Tampa Bay region has always been known as a city of culture. The St. Petersburg-Clearwater area is the top tourist destination in the Gulf of Mexico, drawing in over 15 million visitors per year. The nonprofit arts and culture sector is a $241 million industry in Pinellas County, supporting over 7,000 fulltime equivalent jobs and generating $29.8 million in local and state government revenue. The region has a variety of cultural and arts-related offerings, including museums, performing arts halls, cultural events, theme parks, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and notable public parks. The Florida Museum of Photographic Art preserves and exhibits works by nationally and internationally recognized artists and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts brings Broadway tours to Tampa Bay. Art in Tampa Bay can be seen along the 2.6-mile Tampa Riverwalk and the Latin and Cuban influence of the city’s early cigar workers can be found in Ybor City, complementing the hustle and bustle of the famous GaYbor District. In terms of recovery, Tampa Bay has been slightly better positioned than other regions given the state government pushing ahead to reopen the economy as quickly as possible. As a result, residents were allowed to safely go back to work,while shopping and leisure activities opened with fewer restrictions than some other cities. Financial support also was made available to the sector, including the Hillsborough Artist Relief Program, which provided emergency funds. Still, there were many setbacks for the sector in 2020. One blow was delivered in April when Hillsborough County authorities announced they would delay the construction contract on the new $7.3 million Tampa Performing Arts Center. And shrinking state budgets often mean that the first casualty will be arts and culture spending. The final $92.2 billion 2021 budget approved by Gov. DeSantis includes $13.6 million for arts and cultural affairs, down from $21.2 million last year. Events and festivals Tampa Bay saw most of its events in 2020 either (
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Benjamin Tran Owner Representative West Wing Boutique Hotel
What role does the West Wing Boutique Hotel play in Tampa Bay’s hospitality industry? Our facility used to be a vacant building and we did a full renovation in 2017. We were trying to create something different for the community so we went with a more boutique, modern style that reflects a lot of the design characteristics seen in Asia, pushing the design envelope in the smallest footprints. We also tried to launch several green initiatives and technology. Some of the key elements we implemented include Tesla chargers and a robotic butler that delivers products to the rooms. What opportunities has the pandemic unlocked for the hospitality sector? We definitely see 2021 being a year in which there will be several distressed or heavily leveraged properties coming onto the market at a discounted rate, which will unlock significant opportunities otherwise unavailable. In terms of new development, COVID-19 has highlighted where a lot of the strength in the market is. Markets such as midscale and extended stays weren’t as heavily impacted as the luxury or upscale market. We have been looking at the extended stay market as well as core brands in different chains. How does a hotel like the West Wing Boutique prepare for the unknown? We have our sales managers and teams out there in the market listening in and participating in the platforms provided by different organizations and associations to consolidate a boots-on-the-ground perspective and remain alert to ongoing developments. Based on that intel, we relay information to our operations team so they can better prepare themselves for any events. Information around events such as the Super Bowl is highly tight-lipped but we are looking to ensure everyone is cross-trained in matters of cleanliness and safety so they can best assist the confidence-building process for our guests. By doing so, we can shift our manpower as needed once demand comes back. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com
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