Tampa Bay sports and tourism officials report record hotel revenue and visitor nights; county votes to receive reports

Officials from the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and Visit Tampa Bay told Hillsborough County commissioners on June 4 that strong event activity and marketing have generated record hotel-taxable revenue, high occupancy rates and tens of thousands of visitor room nights in the fiscal year to date.

Rob Higgins, executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, cited major recent events — including a Lionel Messi soccer match, the Savannah Bananas at Raymond James Stadium and a sold-out NCAA Women’s Final Four — and said the commission reported a conservative 77,000 hotel room nights through the first two fiscal quarters. He also said the Hillsborough County Sportsplex hosted events that yielded significant room nights and local expenditures; the board received the report 6-0.

Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, said the county has posted its highest occupancy among the top 25 U.S. markets for the fiscal year to date, with consecutive months posting over $100 million in hotel-taxable revenue. Corrada told commissioners the destination has booked about 260 groups with an estimated future economic impact of about $163 million and cited a 6% increase in bed tax collections year to date.

Both presentations noted community and media engagement tied to major events, economic benefits to hospitality workers and ongoing marketing efforts, including new or returning international air service. Commissioners thanked the presenters and voted unanimously to receive both reports.