Tampa Tourism Slowly Rebounding With New Hotels, Major Events

TAMPA, FL — While the Hillsborough County hotel industry continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, there are optimistic signs that travelers are returning to Tampa Bay.

Indicators from Smith Travel Research show a 47.3 percent increase in hotel occupancy in January, according to Visit Tampa Bay.

“We’re seeing our numbers go in the right direction and we continue to lead within our comp set,” said Santiago C. Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. “Major events, including the Super Bowl, Wrestlemania and various industry events through 2022, will continue to narrow our deficit gap.”

After a historic Super Bowl IV, in which Tampa hosted, played and won the championship, Corrada said the awareness of Tampa Bay as a tourism destination is greater than ever.

“The Super Bowl, no matter its scale, along with any large sporting event, is like an hours' long commercial for the destination,” said Corrada. “That kind of awareness is priceless.

Visit Tampa Bay plans to release official hotel occupancy numbers for the Super Bowl in the coming days.

With construction continuing through the pandemic, visitors had some new hotel choices for Super Bowl week including the debut of the much-anticipated JW Marriott Tampa Water Street.

Under construction for 2 1/2 years, the 27-story, $200 million-plus JW Marriott Tampa Water Street hotel opened in December. The hotel is the centerpiece of Water Street Tampa, the $3.5 billion development led by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's company Strategic Property Partners and Cascade Investment Group owned by Bill Gates.

The boutique hotel, Hotel Haya, which the officially opened on Sept. 24 in Ybor City, was barely open before it was named to the Best New Hotels 2020 by USA Today.

The hotel fuses two historic buildings. One building is the ornate Las Novedades building, Tampa's oldest restaurant, built in 1890. The other is the Warren Building where Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders are rumored to have hung out before heading to Cuba.

The largest property in the Aparium Hotel Group, Hotel Haya has 178 guest rooms —most of which feature balconies, overlooking 7th Avenue, the famous street known for its shops, bars, parades and celebrations.

On the west side of Tampa, the Aloft and Element Midtown boutique hotels in the Midtown Tampa development off Westshore Boulevard will open in 2021 and the Sal Y Mar Rooftop Bar is already open.

The seven-story, 226-room hotels are subsidiaries of Marriott International. Both will operate in the same building while maintaining a distinct look.

The Element, which will be the first of that brand in Tampa, will have 115 rooms with a minimalistic design that makes use of natural materials. In-room kitchens and oversized closets will facilitate longer stays.

Aloft's 111 rooms will feature bold colors and sleek design, with check-in, check-out and access to the rooms themselves done with a smart phone or smart watch. The hotel will have a central lobby, a bistro and restaurant featuring small plates.

With the Super Bowl over, Visit Tampa Bay, the destination marketing organization for Tampa, is gearing up to host another large sporting event in April, Wrestlemania.

These major events are slowly inching tourist development taxes back up to normal.

According to Visit Tampa Bay, January tourist development tax funds collected by the county, reflecting December hotel bookings, totaled $1.8 million, a 46.75 percent decrease over January 2020. This brings total bed tax revenues for the first four months of the fiscal year to slightly more than $7 million, a 42.48 percent decrease over the same period in 2020.

See related stories:

• 2 Historic Ybor City Buildings Make Up Soon-To-Open Hotel Haya
• Video: Wrestlemania Announces Plans To Come To Tampa April 10
• Hotel Haya Named USA Today's Top 10 New Hotels In Country
• JW Marriott Tampa Water Street Opens Ahead Of Super Bowl
• Sal Y Mar Rooftop Bar Now Open in Midtown Tampa