Tourism Economy in Tampa — Tampa, Florida

Tourism figures for Tampa are reported at the Hillsborough County level by Visit Tampa Bay, the county's tourism marketing organization. In a June 5, 2026, release, it reported that visitors generated $6 billion in direct spending in 2025 and a total financial impact of $9.5 billion, based on an annual study by Tourism Economics. The same study credited the Hillsborough visitor economy with nearly 62,000 jobs, one in five in the county, and $691 million in state and local taxes, almost $1,200 per resident.

Visitor counts held roughly flat in 2025. Hillsborough County hosted over 28 million visitors, a 0.6 percent decline from 28.2 million in 2024, which Visit Tampa Bay attributed largely to a 10 percent drop in international visitors, particularly from Canada, partly offset by Latin American markets. Spending per visitor rose: day visitors spent $98 each, overnight guests $392, international travelers $934 and domestic visitors $204, and total visitor spending rose 1.2 percent from 2024. Visit Tampa Bay's about page puts government revenue from tourism at nearly $1.5 billion, saving each county household $1,200.

Hillsborough County tracks hotel stays through the taxes they generate. Visit Tampa Bay reported on October 16, 2025 that Hillsborough County closed fiscal year 2025 with $1,208,854,234 in taxable hotel revenue, surpassing the billion-dollar mark for the third consecutive year after nine straight record months. Tourism Development Tax collections for the year reached $72,510,663, the first time they topped $70 million.

Collections were already setting records in 2022. Business Observer reported on June 27, 2022, that Hillsborough County collected more than $6.07 million in tourism development taxes, also called bed taxes, in May 2022, a nearly 52 percent increase over the same month a year earlier. That money pays for tourism marketing: Visit Tampa Bay, a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) corporation accredited under the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program, says it is supported in part by Tourism Development Collections gathered from overnight visitors in Hillsborough County, which fund its marketing, advertising, partnership and visitor service work from offices at 201 North Franklin Street in downtown Tampa.

Visit Tampa Bay spent that money on three seasonal campaigns in fiscal year 2025, according to its October 2025 release. Ready to Play pushed national and international media after weather-related events in fall 2024, Time to Play targeted the drive markets of Atlanta, Orlando and Miami-Fort Lauderdale, and Doggone Summer marketed Tampa to travelers with pets. The organization also runs Meeting the Moment, a program recognizing convention groups for community engagement, sustainability and social impact in Tampa Bay; since November 2024 it has honored 32 organizations, 19 of them for Community Engagement Excellence and 12 as Sustainability Champions.

The Tampa Convention Center is the city's own tourism business. The center is owned and operated by the City of Tampa and overseen by Mayor Jane Castor and the city's Administrator for Economic Opportunity, and its mission statement is to be a major economic impact for Tampa and the surrounding region. The city's Convention Center and Tourism Department, led by director David Ingram at 333 South Franklin Street, is described as responsible for generating economic impact through operating the building on the Tampa Riverwalk.

The center publishes its own size figures. The center's home page lists 600,000 square feet of flexible event space, a 200,000-square-foot exhibit space, a 36,000-square-foot ballroom and 50 breakout rooms, and the facility page gives a guest capacity of 17,000 across four floors, with a skywalk to the Embassy Suites hotel and views over the Garrison Channel, which connects to the Hillsborough River. Booking support comes from outside City Hall: the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association, Visit Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission all work to bring events to the Tampa building.

The center finished its largest renovation in 2023. According to its capital improvement page, the approximately $44.5 million plan added an 18,000-square-foot, two-level waterfront addition with 18 new meeting rooms overlooking the Hillsborough River, upgraded 15 restrooms, renovated meeting rooms and ballrooms, and reworked The Sail Plaza with Big Ray's Fish Camp restaurant. The awards page lists LEED Silver O+M certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in March 2025.

The City of Tampa has put a figure on the 2026 season. In an October 7, 2026, announcement, the City of Tampa said the Tampa Convention Center was wrapping up a banner year in 2026, hosting more than 320,000 attendees and generating an estimated $149 million in local economic impact. The same release reported that the center won Gold for Best Convention Center in the Southeast U.S. from the Northstar Stella Awards for the fourth consecutive year, and the center's awards page adds a July 2026 Venue Excellence Award from the International Association of Venue Managers.

Conventions also fill Tampa hotel rooms beyond the center itself. Visit Tampa Bay reported that in fiscal year 2025 Tampa Bay hosted more than 540 events with attendees from around the world, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums annual meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the American Legion and SOF Week, producing more than 580,000 room nights and an estimated $366 million in economic impact. In its 2026 release, Visit Tampa Bay chief executive Santiago C. Corrada said sales work with the Tampa Convention Center, hoteliers and other venues had produced over 600,000 convention attendees per year.

The center's marina ties it to Gasparilla. For the Gasparilla invasion scheduled for January 30, 2027, the Tampa Convention Center will rent a limited number of public boat slips from January 29 through January 31, assigned by a waitlist lottery held at The Sail Plaza on November 5, 2026. Rates are $4 per foot with a $160 daily minimum for at least three days, plus a $160 security fee, and slips are 40 feet long, with exceptions for sanctioned Ye Mystic Krewe vessels.

Leftovers from conventions stay in Hillsborough County. The center's community programs send unused office supplies and show bags to the Hillsborough Education Foundation's Teaching Tools Resource Center for teachers at Title I schools, route building materials and furniture to the Habitat for Humanity Hillsborough ReStore, and donate safe unused food through its caterer Aramark. As a City of Tampa department, the center also takes part in the city's United Way Suncoast partnership, which the city says has given nearly $5 million over more than 30 years.