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Tourism May Bounce Back Late This Year

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By MICHAEL SASSO

msasso@tampatrib.com

Published: March 20, 2009

TAMPA - The bad news is that Hillsborough County tourism took a big hit last year by most measures, with day trips to the area down most significantly.

The good news is that 2008 is over and local tourism officials think the industry might rebound by year's end.

On Thursday, Hillsborough County's tourism bureau, Tampa Bay & Co., released its annual report on the state of tourism in Tampa and Hillsborough County. Bonn Marketing Research Group, which studies the local tourism market for the agency, and AAA Auto Club South gave presentations.

Among the sobering trends:

- Fewer overall visitors. Last year, Tampa saw about 16 million visitors, which was down 4.2 percent from 2007, when it received 16.8 million.

- Less spending. Overall, visitors to Tampa and Hillsborough County spent about $2.7 billion last year, which was a drop of 14 percent from 2007, when they spent $3.2 billion.

- Emptier hotels. Last year, the county's average occupancy level during the peak month of March was about 75 percent. That is down from about 83 percent average occupancy in 2007.

Gregg Laskoski, a spokesman for AAA Auto Club South, said AAA thinks the government's economic stimulus measures and rebounding consumer confidence should mean leisure travel will start to recover in the fourth quarter of this year.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the affect on local tourism of a rise in the value of the dollar compared to the euro. The trend makes travel to Europe more attractive.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865.

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