TAMPA, Fla. — The Bay Area is where travelers want to be, and the numbers show it.
Visit Tampa Bay released its latest tourism revenues for the month of March. Hillsborough County hotels returned more than $120 million in revenue beating out February's more than $100 million high.
“I have never seen numbers like this," Visit Tampa Bay President and CEO Santiago Corrada said. "Never in our wildest imagination.”
Corrada is projecting even more revenue growth, so far, for the month of April. It is a growth rate that he expects not to slow down any time soon. A record 2022 for tourism in Tampa is on his mind.
"People can choose to go anywhere they want to anywhere in the world, and we’ve got to make sure they choose Tampa, every single time, so we’ve got to stay ahead of the game all the time," he said.
Corrada said now is the time to develop and grow investments in key industries, like hotels and restaurants, where he said Hillsborough is already a nation leader.
“People want to come and invest in Tampa," Corrada said. "If they see that these hotels are at almost 90% occupancy, there’s room for another hotel because those hotels are maxed out. It’s such a broad stroke of things that make tourism so great for a destination and those things have to work together."
Work together to grow together. Corrada said the Tampa economy is ready to reach new heights through its tourism in 2022.
"As long as we keep marketing and we keep delivering on that promise, I think the sky is the limit for what can happen in Tampa-Hillsborough County," Corrada said.
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