Visit Tampa Bay, along with 13 hotel partners, created Florida’s first Tourism Marketing District (TMD), geared to bring more overnight business to downtown Tampa and the historic Ybor City neighborhood.
Spearheaded by the Hillsborough County Hotel Motel Association, the district won approval from the Tampa City Council in the spring.
“Locally, Visit Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough County Hotel Motel Association have been looking at creating a district for several years now,” said Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. “It [TMD] will remain in line with our [Visit Tampa Bay] current overall branding and marketing strategy aimed at in-state and out-of-state markets, which continues to be very successful. Our messaging will remain similar but with a focus on driving business to the specific hotels that are part of the district.”
Current estimates are that the district could generate an extra $1.36 million a year.
The hotels signing on with the district include: Aloft Tampa Downtown, Courtyard by Marriott Tampa Downtown, Embassy Suites Hotel Tampa Downtown Convention Center, Epicurean Hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Ybor, Hilton Garden Inn Tampa Ybor, Floridan Palace Hotel, Le Meridien Tampa, Hilton Tampa Downtown, Marriott Tampa Waterside Hotel & Marina, Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel, Residence Inn Tampa and The Barrymore Hotel Tampa Riverwalk.
“Both districts are compact and walkable, with major attractions close at hand, and both areas are in the midst of a renaissance,” Corrada said. “In downtown, three major hotel projects and the 2.4-mile Tampa Riverwalk have transformed downtown in a vibrant district. And in Ybor City, a wave of new construction is bringing cutting-edge tech businesses to Tampa Bay’s historic Latin Quarter. New hotels are on the horizon, along with new event spaces and expanded entertainment options that include craft breweries and music spaces.”