HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY TOURISM ACHIEVES BILLION-DOLLAR HOTEL REVENUE BOOM
Visit Tampa Bay reaches the “Billion-Bound by 2025” goal two years early despite pandemic
Tampa, FL (January 31, 2022) – Tampa Bay tourism ends 2022 with a remarkable record-setting year collecting over $1 billion in taxable hotel revenue. Hillsborough County hotel revenue climbed to $1,020,315,314, a 43.1% increase over the previous year, surpassing a self-imposed five-year goal set by Visit Tampa Bay in only three years.
“Hitting our billion-dollar hotel revenue goal is a massive achievement, not just for our hotels, but for all our partners and the community,” says Santiago C. Corrada, President and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. “Research shows that only 20% of direct visitor spending is on hotels and higher percentages are spent on entertainment, retail, and food and beverage. Indirect and induced impacts underline how our success benefits all.”
As a high-impact tourism destination following the successful “30 in 3” campaign launched in 2017, Visit Tampa Bay’s leadership, supported by the board, set the billion-bound aspiration in January 2020 with an ambition to hit it by 2025. To grow from $700 million in revenues to $1 billion in three years showcases the historic aggressive growth of Tampa Bay. Realizing the billion-dollar vision three years into its five-year plan took a comprehensive and laser-focused program that optimized all sales and marketing initiatives to reposition Tampa Bay as Florida’s premier destination and increase visitation across all markets.
Supporting more than 51,000 jobs that help support families and secure future opportunities within the community, Visit Tampa Bay and its industry partners drive, in total, nearly $8 billion a year in economic developments that are felt across the community.
The tourist development tax collections for the month of December totaled $4,917,819, a 30% increase over the previous record. This marks the 20th consecutive month of record bed tax collections (May 2021 – December 2022) with bed tax collections totaling over $61 million for the 2022 calendar year. Tampa Bay held the highest hotel occupancy for the calendar year in both the convention and leisure sales competitive sets. Hotel occupancy for December came in at 71.4% with ADR totaling $155.41 and RevPAR coming in at $110.99. Total calendar year hotel TDT collections reached $61,290, 359.
ABOUT VISIT TAMPA BAY
The heart of Florida’s Gulf Coast beats in Tampa Bay. Visit Tampa Bay encourages adventurous travelers to unlock sun, fun and culture in Florida’s most diverse travel destination. As a not-for-profit corporation certified by Destinations International’s Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP), we work with hundreds of partners to tell the world the story of Tampa Bay. Treasure awaits.