Visit Tampa Bay anticipates record convention center schedule in 2023

TAMPA, Fla. - There’s a lot of love for the Tampa Bay area, and it attracts millions of visitors each year.

Visit Tampa Bay reports a total of 24.6 million visitors in 2021 which resulted in $4.5 billion in visitor spending.

"We have set now 19 consecutive monthly records for hotel revenue and hotel occupancy tax," Santiago Corrada, the president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, said. "In fact, we just brought in October, and October is the fourth-best month in our entire history."

Tourism leaders have also been successful in attracting groups and organizations into town for use of The Tampa Convention Center. It’s building upon a foundation set during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So, during the pandemic, we were marketing in a very safe and responsible way to bring not only leisure travelers and tourists, but also to bring events and conventions," Corrada said.

Now, those groups are returning in a big way along with new ones on the books for next year.

"The convention center will probably be the busiest it will ever be, because we have several groups bringing in over 10,000 attendees back-to-back to back," Corrada said.

That benefits the local economy and helps to make the Tampa Bay area a year-round destination,  offering something for all visitors.