Regional Review: Tampa Bay tourism shows resilience

Writer: Melis Turku Topa

Regional Review is a year-end series from caa that looks at key developments in a focused industry throughout the year and sets the stage for what’s to come in the near term.

December 2025 — Tampa Bay’s tourism sector entered 2025 with momentum, but also clearer signs of transition. Hillsborough County closed FY25 with more than $1.2 billion in taxable hotel revenue, marking its third consecutive year above the billion-dollar mark, supported by nine straight months of record performance and occupancy above 80%.

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Even as the national lodging market softened, Tampa Bay continued to outperform peers in key revenue indicators and visitor spending.

According to Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, it was not coincidental.

“Our success has been driven by a combination of strategic destination marketing and sales efforts, public-private collaboration, and Tampa Bay’s ever-evolving visitor experience. We’ve prioritized data-driven decision-making and launched innovative campaigns to keep Tampa Bay top of mind,” Corrada told Invest:.

Regional wins

That strategy played out across a busy year of headline events — from the NCAA Women’s Final Four and Country Thunder Florida to the Savannah Bananas and Gasparilla season — which helped activate demand across Tampa’s urban core, St. Pete-Clearwater’s beaches, and new districts like Midtown Tampa and Water Street. These events reinforced the region’s identity as a dynamic visitor economy, spreading impact beyond any single destination.

Collaboration emerged as a defining strength across the bay. As Brian Lowack, president and CEO of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, emphasized in the latest edition of Invest: Tampa Bay.

“Collaboration with partners is another priority. We get to showcase how fantastic St. Pete-Clearwater is, but it’s our partners who create the experiences visitors love. Strengthening those partnerships is essential to our shared success.”

Preparedness becomes part of strategy

That spirit proved important following a disruptive storm season in 2024. Across Tampa Bay, 2025 underscored the sector’s resilience in the face of climate and policy shocks. Pinellas County’s bed tax collections ended FY24 about $4 million below despite hurricanes Helene and Milton disrupting beach visitation and damaging key venues like Tropicana Field. The ability to sustain near-record collections after major storms reinforced how central tourism has become to local tax bases and employment, and why proposed state legislation to redirect a large share of hotel tax revenues away from destination marketing toward property-tax relief has sparked strong pushback from Tampa Bay tourism leaders.

As resilience and preparedness took center stage, Visit Sarasota County President & CEO Erin Duggan noted how the storms shaped long-term strategy.

“We aim to build a more resilient and competitive future. Our most recent storm season underscored our vital role in communicating disaster preparedness best practices. As the saying goes, ‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.’”

That shift is reflected in new investments in Tampa Bay — including MOSI’s upgraded planetarium, Busch Gardens’ “Wild Oasis” realm, waterfront concepts on Rattlesnake Point, and niche lifestyle experiences that are expanding beyond traditional beach-driven demand. These efforts speak to a broader strategy: shaping visitor demand, not just chasing it.

However, not all challenges were local. In 2025, the federal immigration crackdown and rising visa-related costs dampened international visitation nationwide. Industry data already indicate softer overseas demand to Florida — particularly from European and Latin American markets — prompting local tourism organizations to track potential long-term impacts and shift focus toward experience-based and drive-market strategies.

Heading into the next year, Tampa Bay’s advantages remain clear: diversified demand drivers, event competitiveness, and a maturing regional approach to tourism. Yet sustaining growth will require continued collaboration, resilience, targeted investment, and proactive planning in the face of mounting policy and climate pressures.

Want more? Read the Invest: Tampa Bay report.