Two cities separated by Tampa Bay and one low-key, artistic community to the south make up Florida’s Central West Coast, whose sun-dappled shores have long welcomed visitors looking for a pleasing mix of sandy seclusion, eclectic attractions, resorts that rise like castles on the sand, and, of course, those spectacular waterfront sunsets.
Tampa
Florida’s city by the bay has been developing its downtown waterfront for the past 15 years, and it’s about to pay off in a big way. By the time Super Bowl XLIII arrives in 2009, the 2.2-mile Riverwalk waterfront promenade will connect the convention center to hotels, cruise terminals, parks and green spaces, and attractions like the Florida Aquarium, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and the Channelside entertainment complex, making downtown Tampa a true walking city with easy access to hotels, dining and off-hours activities.
“I think the wonderful thing about our destination is that it’s not contrived; it’s really an authentic destination,” says Norwood Smith, vice president of sales for the Tampa Bay CVB. “Our development in the downtown area really shows it. We’ve got cultural attractions, hotels, a convention center, and cruise ships pulling in that make the area more vibrant and active. It’s just a nice mix.”
True, downtown Tampa’s waterfront district is the city’s main convention hub, boasting the 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center, which is connected by skybridge to a new Embassy Suites hotel and is flanked by the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, the Sheraton Riverwalk Hotel, the Hyatt Regency Tampa, and other major convention properties. Also downtown is the St. Pete Times Forum sports and entertainment center, offering a number of meeting rooms.
But the city’s Westshore Business District, set between the downtown area and Tampa International Airport, is coming on strong with properties like the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay and a variety of Marriotts, Hiltons and Holiday Inns, along with all-suite and extended-stay hotels.
A variety of hotels and resorts with meeting and event space also surround one of the area’s most popular attractions—Busch Gardens—while the Florida State Fairgrounds can host large groups in its 9,900-seat Ford Amphitheatre.
With a host of attractions and restaurants within walking distance of the downtown convention center and hotels, you can definitely leave the car in the garage if you’re meeting on Tampa’s waterfront. And that goes as well if you’re headed to nearby Ybor City, a former cigar capital that today is a National Historic Landmark District of wrought-iron balconies, brick streets and vintage street lamps that glow above a lively scene of nightclubs and coffee houses every evening.
Vintage streetcars and trolleys run from the convention center district to Ybor, which has venues like the Cuban Club, founded in 1899, that are available for events.
Farther north, near Busch Gardens, events seem like kid’s play at the Museum of Science and Industry, where groups enjoy an IMAX Dome Theater and cocktails before riding a high-wire bike and participating in some hands-on team-building experiences.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Across the bay from Tampa is the Pinellas County peninsula, beloved among vacationers for a century thanks to 35 miles of powder-white barrier island beaches, magnificent resorts, peaceful seaside communities, and an average of 361 days of sunshine each year.
Anchored by the cities of St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the region has managed to retain its retiring nature while keeping pace with other Florida destinations by luring groups with top-notch meeting venues, entertainment options, restaurants, shops, and activities.
Getting down to business, St. Petersburg/Clearwater boasts a number of prime meeting facilities, including the Harborview Center in Clearwater, offering a 30,000-square-foot exhibit hall on the first floor and another 35,000 square feet of meeting space on the upper level, along with sweeping views of the Gulf of Mexico.
Other facilities include Tropicana Field—home to Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays—the St. Petersburg Coliseum, Ruth Eckerd Hall, and nearly 50 properties offering meeting space and professional staffing assistance, from recreation playgrounds like Safety Harbor Resort and Spa and Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club to yesteryear palaces like the Don CeSar Beach Resort, the Renaissance Vinoy and the Belleview Biltmore Resort.
Florida in general is famous for its beaches, but the beaches in St. Petersburg/Clearwater are award-winners, earning praise for everything from sand quality to environmental management. Coastal geologist and beach analyst Dr. Stephen Leatherman, also known as “Dr. Beach,” consistently ranks the beaches of St. Petersburg and Clearwater at the top of his annual list of best U.S. beaches.
Beyond the beach, more than 60 marinas and yacht clubs are the launching pad for casino, sightseeing, dinner, and deep-sea fishing cruises, while back on terra firma, groups can check out attractions such as St. Petersburg’s Salvador Dali Museum and the Florida International Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian.
Sarasota
Heading south from the Tampa Bay area, the pace slows down to tranquil in the seaside enclave of Sarasota, which hosts smaller meetings in a region rich in cultural and natural treasures.
The area’s main meeting venue is the Sarasota Bradenton International Convention Center, boasting a 93,000-square-foot event floor and a prime location across from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. Other meeting and convention space is housed at hotels and resorts such as The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, the Hilton Longboat Key Beachfront Resort, the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel, and the Hyatt Sarasota, which is adjacent to another group venue, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, whose many event areas include a magnificent grand foyer and bayfront lawn.
While Gulf Coast beaches and island communities are minutes away from downtown Sarasota, delegates might want to explore Sarasota’s “Cultural Coast,” which includes the Asolo Center for the Performing Arts, the Sarasota Opera House, the artists’ colony at Towles Court, or that grand masterpiece, the Ringling Museum of Art. The 66-acre estate of John Ringling (of Ringling Bros. Circus fame) includes the Museum of Art—recognized as the official State Art Museum of Florida—whose 21 galleries of European and American art are filled with paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Poussin, and other Baroque masters.
Rentable facilities at the museum will add a touch of grandeur to any event, and include the Art Museum Courtyard and Loggia, hosting up to 1,000; the Cà d’Zan Terrace, handling up to 250; and Mable’s Rose Garden, accommodating 50.
