The last program day dawned for the 50 members of Leadership Tampa Class of 2024 with the same sense of euphoria we last experienced as high school seniors on the verge of summer vacation. We were sad that our time together was coming to an end but were looking forward to a light-hearted and “fun” day as virtual tourists.
Our experience was curated by Day Chairs, Jill Manthey, VP of Sales & Community Relations for Manthey Hospitality (LT ’10), and Kris Knox, Managing Director of Millennium Management Group (LT ’20), to illustrate the importance of tourism to the Tampa economy. Venerable local institutions teamed up to host us in a variety of settings, and we owe a debt of gratitude to all of them and our sponsor, Carnival Cruise Lines, for the generosity they extended in sharing their stories and ensuring that we were well fed and hydrated on a glorious but warm May day.
We had the fun we expected, starting with a sumptuous breakfast served in the Gwazi Pavilion Event Center at Busch Gardens, but soon realized that Tourism Day is about more than the thrill of the Iron Gwazi roller coaster, learning about manatee conservation at ZooTampa, getting up close and personal with cute critters at the Florida Aquarium, and enjoying a lovely cruise around Garrison Channel on the Yacht StarShip.
During presentations by leadership from Busch Gardens, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, the Florida Aquarium, Visit Tampa Bay, and Visit Florida, and a panel discussion among other leaders in the Tampa tourism industry, we learned that tourism remains a powerhouse industry in Florida. According to data provided by Dana Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of Visit Florida, tourism has an astonishing annual economic impact of $121.5 billion in the State of Florida. While Tampa Bay’s economic base has broadened over the years, tourism remains a vital part of our local economy as well. Thanks to the quality and variety of our tourism venues and special events, the resilience of our business leaders to adapt to change, and cooperative marketing efforts led by Visit Tampa Bay, tourism has an annual economic impact of $8.5 billion in our local community.
We met with leaders from a variety of sectors within the tourism industry, each with its own challenges to meet in continuing to engage and attract visitors, extend overnight stays, and maintain relevance in a changing world. Despite their individual differences, we noticed some common themes in all of the presentations. The Tampa Bay tourism industry has staying power as an economic engine because of the resilience of its business leaders and their receptiveness to cooperative efforts to boost the profile of Tampa Bay for the benefit of the entire industry.
We saw evidence of powerful resilience in the stories of heritage institutions like ZooTampa at Lowry Park and Busch Gardens, each founded in the late 1950s, but also in the blossoming of the Florida Aquarium, whose facility opened in 1995 when the Amalie Arena was called the “Ice Palace” and Channelside was but a dream, and in the tenacity of relative newcomers like Splitsville and Yacht StarShip establishing footprints along Garrison Channel long before Jeff Vinik came to town. The extended Covid shutdown was challenging for theme parks and tourism venues in general, and to date tourism from international visitors has yet to recover. Fortunately, hotel and motel occupancy rates have rebounded to pre-Covid levels, generating tourism bed taxes to fund regional marketing efforts to promote Tampa Bay. The industry as a sector is working together to increase both domestic and international overnight stays in Tampa Bay, but in the meantime each of these institutions continues to work with what they can control, catering to the appeal of Tampa Bay residents.
- From Stewart Clark, President and General Manager of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island, we learned how Busch Gardens has evolved with the times since it was established in 1959 as a park for brewery employees and their families. Rides and experiences have become more sophisticated and modern, it is one of the largest zoos in the United States, and it produces more than a dozen special events throughout the year, treating repeat visitors to experiences from “scary to merry”.
- ZooTampa at Lowry Park has similarly evolved, and not just in name. The Lowry Park venue opened in 1957 as the Tampa City Zoo maintained by the Tampa Parks Department. By the late 1980s, the operations shifted to ownership by a private non-profit organization and the zoo gained accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Tampa children raised in the 1990s and early 2000s have great memories of family visits, sleepovers with manatees, and the then modern zoo. Sadly, Lowry Park Zoo was rocked by leadership scandal in 2008, but the institution’s resilience is evident in how it overcame controversy, retained its AZA accreditation, and re-doubled efforts to represent Tampa as a preeminent zoo attraction and ambassador for wildlife conservation under the ZooTampa at Lowry Park brand. Today, few people remember the dark years and the future looks bright. We learned from Scott Rose, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, that one of the most frequently cited sources of social media driving traffic to visit the zoo is “Secrets of the Zoo: Tampa,” a documentary featuring zookeepers from ZooTampa at Lowry Park telling the stories of their animal charges. Now in its fourth season, the series is available on various streaming platforms.
- The Florida Aquarium’s original vision was to develop a world class educational facility at a new site in the Port of Tampa. Since the iconic building first opened in 1995, the Florida Aquarium has added many enhancements to the guest experience, including its popular “Dive with the Sharks” program, the children’s outdoor water fun zone, and the Wild Dolphin Cruises. Many young adults in Tampa Bay have great memories of summer camps and class visits at the Florida Aquarium and are recreating them today with their own children in tow. The Florida Aquarium’s evolution is most apparent in its embracement of the role of conservation leader, taking firm steps to advance the protection of endangered species in Florida and across the country. Andy Wood, Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief Operating Officer (LT ’19), shared his passion for the Florida Aquarium’s initiatives related to the spawning of various endangered corals, the restoration of the Florida Reef Tract and the development of disease resistance on Florida’s reefs. We could have spent the entire day just learning about the various coral projects.
- On a smaller yet more personal scale, Splitsville is the epitome of resilience. An original tenant of the former Channelside retail complex, it enjoyed the steady stream of cruise visitors and locals who came for the restaurants, movies and games. But when the retail complex lost tenants during an extended transition, Splitsville had some lean years. With the resurgence of the area under the Sparkman’s Wharf brand and the adjacent Water Street development, and the return of the trolley, Splitsville has again flourished. It has a fresh fresh look inside but has retained the trademark bowling experience. The Yacht StarShip and sister fleet have seen a similar renaissance as a result of the robust influx of visitors to the Water Street district and the continuous investment by its owners in varied watercraft experiences to take advantage of the special Tampa waterfront. Its new dining vessel, Craft, is on everyone’s short list of new restaurants to try this summer.
Throughout our Leadership Tampa curriculum, we learned from leaders in many industries about the importance of working collaboratively with competitors to solve common problems. After all, all boats rise in the tide. As we learned from Santiago Corrada, President and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, Juan Lopez, Sales and Marketing Manager at the Tampa Convention Center, Bob Morrison, Executive Director of the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association (LT ’81), Don Barnes, Executive Director of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, and MaryBeth Williams, Executive Director of Friends of the Riverwalk, this is uniquely true in the case of the tourism industry, in part because of the influence of the tourist development tax (aka the “bed tax”) and its role in funding regional marketing for Tampa Bay.
The tourist development tax is a 6% tax collected by Hillsborough County on the total rental amount collected from any person who rents living quarters or accommodations for a period of six months or less. The tax is paid only by tourists who stay in our hotels, motels and vacation rentals. Under a complicated allocation system, over 50 cents of each dollar of this tax revenue funds Hillsborough County tourism attractions, special events and, most importantly, Visit Tampa Bay.
Visit Tampa Bay is the marketing arm focused on bringing tourism to Hillsborough County. A measure of its success is the number of beds that are filled as a result of its marketing efforts, which in turn generate more tourism development tax revenues to support future operations. Local tourism does not result in meaningful hotel stays for our local hotels, but out of state and international visitors are the holy Grail for the hotel industry. Cooperative marketing activities led by Visit Tampa Bay help bring in more overnight guests to take cruises from the Port of Tampa and attend conventions, major sporting events and iconic concerts. Coordination with marketing activities by Tampa International Airport has resulted in successful domestic and international flights originating in Tampa, making it easier to attract tourists from out of state to enjoy a visit to Tampa Bay.
So when Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla puts on its legendary day parade each year, when the Tampa Convention Center attracts the Varsity Sprint cheerleading competition bringing more than 26,000 attendees, when the NFL selects Tampa for the Super Bowl, or when Taylor Swift performs a concert at Raymond James Stadium, remember that they are also putting “heads in beds”. Often these large events are landed only as a result of focused and long-term marketing efforts in partnership with Visit Tampa Bay. The overnight stays generate direct revenues for our local hotels and restaurants, and spill off revenue from retail sales, attraction tickets and the like, but also the self-perpetuating tourism development tax revenue to fund marketing of future events.
Leadership Tampa Class of ’24 came away from Tourism Program day with new insight into the how’s and whys of tourism, and a strong impression that the welfare of the Tampa Bay tourism ecosystem is in good hands.