Tampa Bay tourism recovers to near pre-pandemic levels
Despite a still depressed travel and tourism market due to the pandemic Tampa Bay weathered the storm well.
The most recent monthly report for March showed hotel occupancy was at 70.2%, which is up 40% from last year, and RevPAR was up 19%.
In April, major events like Wrestlemania 37, in addition to Spring Break and the return of meetings, helped propel recovery ahead of schedule with some weeks outperforming record levels in 2019, even with a substantial increase in hotel inventory.
"We are getting closer and closer to levels seen in record-breaking months," said Santiago C. Corrada, President and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay.
"As we work toward achieving strong summer visitation, we fully intend to keep the momentum going with new targeted marketing campaigns, group business incentives and the return of in-person trade events later in the year."
"With 17 rescheduled or relocated conventions bringing in an estimated $39 million in economic impact in 2021, it is evident that our community is recovering ahead of our competitive set and most of the country," Corrada added.
Tourist development tax collections for April were down only 10.13% compared to the previous record for April set in 2019.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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