Industry Update

January 13, 2020

On the Radar: The Most Anticipated Openings and Expansions Coming in 2020

Each year brings an exciting new crop of openings, and 2020 will surely not disappoint. From the highly-anticipated new St. Pete Pier to Clearwater Marine Aquarium's $79 million expansion, check out a roundup of what's in store for the year ahead on our New & Now page.


Meetings Team Has Record Year with HelmsBriscoe

VSPC's Meetings & Conventions team had a record 2019 working with one of the world's largest meeting planner networks, HelmsBriscoe. The team helped book more than 46,000 room nights and $9 million in hotel revenue, shattering 2018 performance wiith 21% and 20% year-over-year increases, respectively. Both numbers are all-time highs, too, solidifying VSPC's place as a strategic destination partner with HelmsBriscoe.


Brand USA Celebrates Renewal by Congress

It's official! Congress has reauthorized funding for the nation's destination marketer, Brand USA, through 2027 (initially set to expire at the start of 2020). Since 2013, Brand USA has successfully added close to 52,000 jobs and created $47.4 billion in total economic impact to the U.S. economy. This news allows Brand USA to further contribute to the economy in the coming years by inspiring international visitation to destinations throughout the U.S., including St. Pete/Clearwater. 


AAA Traveler Worldwise: Two of a Kind - St. Petersburg, Florida vs. St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Pete was named after the famous Russian City, but do the connections end there? See how these two cities compare in the Winter 2020 issue of AAA Traveler Worldwise - reaching more than 160,000+ AAA members in the Mid-Atlantic - resulting from VSPC's PR efforts.


Reporting at Your Fingertips

Did you know that you can easily see the largest month of Tourist Development Tax collections in the past 6 years? Or see trending by month since 2013? All of this information and more is available in our Reporting section. We're routinely revamping all of our reporting dashboards and encourage partners to spend time exploring the many different free datasets and reporting available. 


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