Hillsborough County tourism revenue hit a record high in 2018, and the numbers keep getting better in 2019. That’s according to a press release from Visit Tampa Bay (VTB), which said that tourism revenues for the month of February reached another historic high this year, eclipsing last year’s record number by more than 11%.
The county received more than $3.8 million in Tourist Development funds from overnight stays during February, according to the county tax collector, which tops the old record of $3.4 million set in 2018.
VTB said that hotel occupancy for the month averaged 85.8%, which is up 3.6% from the previous year. Total hotel revenues for February reached $76.4 million, and that’s more than 41 percent over the $54.2 million average for the last decade.
“Hotel revenue is just part of the picture,” VTB President and CEO Santiago Corrada said.
“For every one of those room-nights, visitors spent money dining in our restaurants, shopping in our stores, enjoying our attractions, and hiring local transportation. They also paid sales taxes that fund local education and transportation projects. Altogether, that added up to nearly 50,000 jobs and $6 billion added to the local bottom line. The impact of a single visitor ripples out to every corner of our community.”
Gasparilla-related events (the Distance and Volleyball Classics), and the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and other events brought visitors to the area, but the crazy part is that last month’s numbers should be even better since February is only the second-highest month for tourism-related revenue after March.
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This article appears in Apr 11-18, 2019.