Where to? Tourism in Tampa

Where to?:

Tourism in Tampa Bay has been on a record run, although the COVID-19 pandemic is putting a cloud over the sector

The biggest industry in Florida’s economy is tourism. In 2017, out-of-state visitor spending directly generated $44.3 billion in Florida Gross State Product (GSP), and indirect and induced impacts meant tourism contributed $85.9 billion to the state’s economy. The Tampa tourism industry hit a record year in 2019, bringing in $35.4 million alone in tourism tax from overnight hotel stays, up $1.5 million on the year. In January 2020, Hillsborough County recorded a record monthly figure in terms of revenues, hitting $3.38 million in Tourist Development Funds.

A record-breaking 126.1 million people visited Florida in 2018 and more than 30 million of them went to Tampa Bay. According to a survey carried out by Visit Tampa Bay, around 20% of locals work for businesses that rely on visitors for at least a significant portion of their revenue, equating to around 120,000 jobs.

But the industry was put to the test in early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people at home, both domestically and internationally. Shelter in place orders, bans on large gatherings and events, and the cancellation of major sports will have a deep impact on revenues. For example, Tampa hosts professional baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, football’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and hockey’s Tampa Bay Lightning. As the pandemic spread across the nation the NHL, NFL and MLB all closed their doors, and potentially their seasons. A protracted fight against the disease would spell deep trouble for the industry.

By the numbers Florida’s privileged coastal location and agreeable climate makes it an ideal cruise state, home to five of the largest cruise ports in the country: Port of Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Port Tampa Bay and Port of Jacksonville. More than 7.5 million passengers boarded a Florida-based cruise in 2018 and these five ports alone accounted for nearly 60% of all U.S. embarkations. Tampa registered the greatest percentage increase nationally in terms of embarkations from 2016 to 2018, at 47.7%.

The Tampa International Airport was one of the factors that kicked off the tourism growth of the region, and Tampa’s connectivity is one reason why the location sustains this growth. The airport now serves 23 major airlines, with a record-breaking 22,166,049 million passengers in fiscal 2019, a 5.5% increase over 2018. It has 421 daily flights to 86 nonstop destinations and 57 weekly departures to 10 international cities. ( )