Meetings and sports activity rebounds; Visit Saint Pete Clearwater extends hotel incentive program

Visit Saint Pete Clearwater reported stronger meetings and sports activity as the destination recovers from last year’s storm period and extended a short-term incentive aimed at boosting hotel bookings.

Stephanie, director of meetings and conferences, told the council the organization has generated 738 leads since the fiscal year began Oct. 1 (up from 550 at the same time last year), with strong room-night bookings for 2026–2028 and a long-term pipeline. She said the organization revised its incentive program in January to increase incentive amounts and that the change generated an additional $70,000 returned to hotel partners, which she said produced 32 additional meetings and about 16,000 incremental room nights. The incentive extension runs through the end of April.

Caleb Peterson, director of the Sports Commission, reviewed sports-related bookings and venue needs. He highlighted recent college softball tournaments, open-water regattas, youth events and other competitions that together generate thousands of room nights and local spending. Peterson said lack of rectangle fields (soccer, lacrosse, football) limits growth; industry benchmarks suggest destinations look for eight or more rectangle fields to host regional tournaments. He updated the board on Toytown, where subsurface investigation is underway to determine feasibility for development and to estimate remediation and build costs; a report was expected in early April and a staff recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners was forecast for October.

Board members asked clarifying questions about incentive thresholds; Stephanie said groups must generate at least 100 room nights to qualify for the meetings incentive program. No formal funding changes or votes were taken at the meeting.