Eddie, Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s analytics lead, told the advisory panel that fiscal-year 2025 TDT collections surpassed $90 million, marking the fourth consecutive year above that level. He cautioned that comparisons should consider 2023 as the baseline because 2024 included unusual hotel occupancy from hurricane-related displacement; vacation rental revenue figures reported in the packet reflect a sample (about 2,800 reporting units) and should be interpreted by percentage trends rather than raw-sample dollar amounts.

Chief Marketing Officer Steve Grama updated the board on current and planned marketing activity. He said the organization ran national and regional outdoor and digital campaigns (including Times Square and Market Street placements), a Canadian digital campaign with strong click-through rates, and a creative Q4 ‘‘PTO’’ push encouraging late-year bookings. Visit Florida and partners secured an appearance on Wheel of Fortune, which staff estimated cost about $100,000 after partner contributions; the episode produced more than 90,000 entries to an associated sweepstakes that provides a marketing retargeting list.

Steve also described new partnership activations with the Tampa Bay Lightning and other sports franchises, an in-game activation concept, and a five-episode podcast series produced with the Tampa Bay Times titled "Must Dos and Hidden Gems". Staff reported an annual marketing budget near $25 million with approximately $4 million allocated to agency fees and management.

What’s next: staff will continue marketing activations and provide regular metrics updates to the advisory panel, and will refine comparative baselines for future pacing reports.