The largest city on Florida’s West Coast is getting ready for its close-up in August, when the world media will descend upon it for the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Aside from showing off the 200,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center and the Tampa Bay Times Forum stadium — which underwent a $40-million renovation in 2011 and is currently installing the largest high-definition arena screen in North America — Hillsborough County stepped up with a $1-million marketing and promotional campaign, including promoting the destination to potential meeting and convention clients.
The funding will “allow us to promote our destination leading up to, during, and following the most significant convention we’ve ever hosted,” says Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Tampa Bay & Company. “What an amazing opportunity to positively impact our destination not only leading up to the convention, but for years after.”
And that’s on top of a very good 2011. According to the Hillsborough County Visitors Study, the Tampa area saw an increased number of visitors (up 4 percent to 14.5 million), visitor spending (up 6.8 percent to $3.4 billion), and cruise passengers (up 6 percent to 897,000) compared to the year before.
Of course, that’s not all that’s going on in Tampa. There’s a new venue in town focused on the medical and health care space. The University of South Florida’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in downtown Tampa is a 90,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art medical training center using advanced simulation technology. Its education center has a 200-person auditorium with built-in video-conferencing technology, classrooms, a 10-person Cisco TelePresence suite, dining space for 250, and an exhibit space.
On the hotel front, the DoubleTree by Hilton Tampa Airport – Westshore is finishing a multi-year, $17-million renovation that overhauled the 489-room hotel’s 16,000 square feet of function space. The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay has embarked on a $16-million renovation of its 445 rooms, with work scheduled to end in August. And the 269-room Crowne Plaza Tampa East expects a $10-million renovation of its rooms, meeting space, public areas, and pool to be completed this summer.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Across Old Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg/Clearwater, the big news is TripAdvisor members voting St. Pete Beach as the top beach destination in the United States and fifth best in the world in its 2012 Travelers Choice awards.
The 159-room TradeWinds Sandpiper Suites hotel on St. Pete Beach is in the process of being rebranded the Guy Harvey Outpost – a TradeWinds Beach Resort, a process it expects to complete in 2013. This will include $3 million in guest room renovations, and a new restaurant. The neighboring 584-room TradeWinds Island Grand finished a $20-million guest room renovation this year. The sister properties have 17,000 and 71,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, respectively.
In nearby Bradenton, the 60,000-square-foot Manatee Convention Center will complete a $7-million renovation in November, updating the decor, restrooms, and lighting, and adding an outdoor reception space.
The Panhandle
Along Florida’s Panhandle is the Emerald Coast, named by TripAdvisor as one of the Top 25 Destinations in the U.S. last year. The area, which includes Destin, Fort Walton Beach, and Okaloosa Island, has 24 miles of white-sand beaches and bright green waters, and is closer to deep-water fishing than any other spot in Florida.
The 2,400-acre Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort finished renovations of its boutique hotel, Le Ciel, last month updating the style and furnishings. Le Ciel has 130 rooms and 33,000 square feet of meeting space in the Linkside Conference Center.
In Pensacola, the big news is the new Community Maritime Park and 5,000-seat Blue Wahoos Stadium, a AA minor league ballpark affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. The 5,000-seat stadium has two right field party decks with a capacity of 150 and 100.
The completion of an $80-million renovation at the Pensacola International Airport in November provided a new name, a state-of-the-art baggage handling system, a new ticketing and rental car area, expanded parking, and additional retail outlets. Still ongoing is the $24-million “Airport and 12th” development that includes a new 127-room Hyatt Place hotel set to open next spring.