Summary
Tourism officials reported a 12.2% drop in June tourist development tax (TDT) collections and described supply and demand shifts: vacation rentals remain down double digits while some hotel markets and downtown areas saw gains. Staff tied the patterns to hurricane recovery, new hotel openings in nearby markets and changing traveler behavior.
Pinellas County tourism analysts said TDT collections for June were down about 12.22% year over year and that the county is still seeing uneven recovery across lodging types and submarkets.
"TDT collections in June 2025 was just shy of $7.5 million. Ultimately, it was down about 12.22%," said Eddie (staff presenter), who briefed the council on destination metrics. He said the largest shortfalls were concentrated in the vacation-rental sector and in parts of south-county beaches, while St. Petersburg and Clearwater showed gains tied to new hotel openings and refreshed visitor products.
Staff highlighted a countywide year-to-date picture: gross collections of roughly $74.3 million, about 5% below the prior year at that time. Vacation-rental supply and demand are described as still down double digits countywide, contributing meaningfully to the shortfall; hotel supply has recovered more fully but some decline in demand was visible in recent months.
Eddie and colleagues presented feeder-market data (from industry sources including Amadeus) and cautioned that the international sample in their dataset is small. They noted an increase in some inbound markets such as Mexico associated with new air service and said international visitors who do come are staying longer on average. Staff also flagged increased competition from other Florida destinations — Fort Myers/Naples, Sarasota/Bradenton and Orlando (including Epic Universe) — where new supply and attractions have shifted some demand.
Marketing actions cited by staff include leveraging National Beach Day promotions with airline partner Allegiant, a TripAdvisor content takeover and targeted regional marketing to spur short-window bookings. Staff said they will emphasize value messaging and promotions via partners such as Hopper and Travelzoo.
Council members and local officials pressed staff for more granular market analysis and recommended continuing partnerships with carriers (Allegiant) and regional promotions. Several local elected officials and hoteliers emphasized that some communities (Clearwater, St. Pete, Dunedin) had strong months and that countywide numbers mask divergent local performance. "Clearwater generated 49.3% of the county's bed tax in March," Mayor Bruce Rector said, noting the city's investments to reopen quickly after storms.
Ending: Staff said they are monitoring changes in supply and demand, airline routing and competing Florida product launches and will continue adaptive marketing and partnerships to support recovery.
