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Sell Tampa With A Souvenir And A Smile

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 24, 2007

Updated: 12/23/2007 08:22 pm

Tampa International Airport plans a new A-game for the 2009 Super Bowl, with additions to its shopping and dining lineup. But Mayor Pam Iorio sees something missing in the game plan: shops with a local flavor.

She's right. A Tampa-focused airport gives the city one last shot to make a good impression on visitors. It allows them to take something home they couldn't get anywhere else.

So what does a Tampa shop sell? Iorio says she'd take the best ideas from the gift shops at the University of Tampa's Plant Hall, the Tampa Bay History Center and local institutions such as the Columbia Restaurant. City artisans would be a touchstone, too.

Certainly such a shop should sell things shaped like minarets. Cigars would be a no-brainer. Cuban sandwiches, too.

A true Tampa shop also would sell cookbooks with recipes for paella, roast pork, boliche, black beans and yellow rice. There'd be bags of Cuban coffee and jars of the finest guava, strawberry (for Plant City) and tomato (for Ruskin) preserves.

It would sell photos of Tampa's history with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, Elvis and circus people.

It would feature Ferdie Pacheco's artwork and copies of his "Ybor City Chronicles."

And it would stock copies of "Anna in the Tropics," Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, set in 1929 Tampa.

There'd be memorabilia from our sports teams and our baseball spring-training history.

And don't forget vintage postcards from the golden era of Florida travel, when a ride across the Tamiami Trail was a dream vacation.

And because we're proudly rooted in Florida, kitsch would not only be appreciated, it would be expected. Rubber alligators, painted seashells and melted snowmen - a must for any collector.

But if Tampa's airport truly wants to leave visitors dreaming of a return trip, only one thing fits the bill.

Send them home with a warm, freshly baked loaf of Cuban bread. And just see how fast they hurry back.

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