Pinellas hospitality industry welcoming Spring Break visitors after devastating hurricanes

Preparing for spring break crowds after storms

Kailey Tracy reports.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Many vacationers are already in town enjoying our piece of paradise during their spring break.

It comes after a record-breaking February for St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. Almost 195,000 passengers flew in or out of the airport. Visitors are a welcomed sight every spring break, but especially this year after back-to-back hurricanes, hospitality workers said.

READ: Caspersen Beach has long road to recovery after 2024 hurricane season: 'It won't stop me from coming'

Local perspective:

"Spring break this year, especially for the staff, it’s a big deal," Steven Bilbrey, the general manager of Clear Sky Café, said.

The restaurant just reopened last month. Hurricane Helene flooded the restaurant with two to three feet of water, he said.

"It was devastating. We were shut down for some period, I guess close to five months… that’s a long time to have your staff not working," Bilbrey said.

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He said they’re still fixing some things, but are grateful to be reopened for spring break.

"We got such a great, great, great staff. Really. That's the best thing. That has kept us going. Just be patient because we still are doing some construction work. We're not quite finished yet," he said.

What they're saying:

Chris Tiemeier, the general manager of Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill, said their parking lot right on the beach just reopened last week. The restaurant reopened at the end of last year.

"That was huge," he said about the parking lot reopening. "That was a big, big mess for a long time. So, now it’s starting to feel like kind of the normal insanity instead of the other insanity."

MORE: Manatee County running out of time to prepare for 2025 hurricane season, experts say

"Everybody's been supportive of everybody else. The businesses are kind of welcoming each other back open and all that, and it couldn't be a better time of year to get it going," Tiemeier said. "I think everyone coming down here is just happy that things are open and surprised to some extent. I mean, it seemed like it was going to take a lot longer. So, I think we were able to get everything back together. The city did a good job about getting everything cleaned up. So, everybody's just really happy to be back. And, you know, if there's still a hole in the wall or a TV's missing, there's, you know, it doesn't really matter."

Dig deeper:

Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector said they're hoping to have Clearwater's best spring break ever after everything that everyone, especially those in the hospitality industry, have been through over the past six months.

"A successful spring break will allow families working in that industry an opportunity to recover and restore their income to normalcy after two devastating hurricanes," Rector said.

"Some parking is limited right now due to previously planned renovations at the Clearwater Beach Marina. We ask visitors to avoid residential neighborhood areas of the beach as those streets are somewhat narrow and a number of homeowners are still making repairs to their homes. But all of the tourist areas of the beach are now fully open and accessible," Rector said.

Rector said the beach itself is back to normal, and most resorts, restaurants and attractions vacationers love are reopened too.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with those in the hospitality industry in Pinellas County as well as Clearwater's mayor.

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