Perspectives: Growth outlook

Aaron Hoefen

General Manager – AC Hotel Marriott Tampa Bay Those that are the quickest in safely getting back to the experience that feels like the past, an authentic hotel and dining experience, will be the ones that recover the fastest. At this point, guests are back out and traveling again. Those who are out are doing so on a consistent, weekly basis. If they go to a location that still feels closed off, they are unlikely to go back there. They are looking for a return of the experience.

Pablo Molinari

General Manager – The Hotel Haya Sometimes I see this like a house of cards. It takes an hour to build a house of cards; it only takes a second and everything falls down to the ground. To rebuild, you have to dedicate that time you spent before. There’s no question that we are starting to turn the corner, but I think 2021 is going to be a year of transition.

Brian Schneider

General Manager – The Westin Tampa Waterside It’s hard for us to pinpoint where there will be growth first. We are starting to see some uptick in group business and business travelers returning. When COVID first hit, many businesses put corporate-wide holds on all business travel. Now some executives are able to visit client sites as long as social distancing is being followed. Rate recovery may not happen anytime soon. From what I see, we are looking at Q3 2021 for the real rebound, but it could be as late as 2022. ( ) canceled or pushed back. The Sunset Music Festival saw its 2020 edition canceled, with the next event scheduled for Memorial Day 2021. But as vaccines become more accessible, Tampa Bay hopes to capitalize on pent-up demand for live events and entertainment. Already, schedules are filling up for 2021 with the likes of WrestleMania, a variety of Pride festivities in June and the 2021 Franchise Show in September. The annual Tampa Gasparilla Pirate Festival was canceled in February 2021, but two alternative events went ahead in Hillsborough Bay instead in April.

According to experts, one of the last sectors that will recover is business travel as companies cautiously eye liability when sending employees on trips. At the outset of the pandemic, convention centers were predicted to suffer greatly, but, thanks to a great deal of ingenuity, this scenario has not played out as expected in the Tampa region. Early on in the pandemic, virtual events began springing up. Break Tampa Bay was one of the first such events, hosted by startup platform Lunchpool, and the platform went on to host a variety of other events across Florida, including Startup Week Tampa Bay. The attraction of virtual events is that they fill the craving for engagement and can handle a high capacity compared with in-person events, which have tight restrictions. The platform’s demand skyrocketed by 600% last year.

But the question hinges on if and when in-person conferences will be back or whether the future of the conference relies on Zoom. In Tampa, there is no question that conventions will be back given the huge demand seen at the beginning of the year. Tampa Bay is already planning to host at least 25 events between April and December 2021 with an economic impact of $75 million to the area. Visit Tampa Bay is promoting ( )