Pinellas County reported 5.2 million overnight visitors in 2011, a 3.8 percent gain from 2010 that resulted in a record $26.1 million in bed tax collections, Tampa-based Research Data Services Inc. reported Tuesday.
The Midwest and Northeast United States and Europe accounted for most of Pinellas' visitors in 2011, followed by Florida, the remainder of the Southeast United States and Canada.
The Pinellas visitors bureau is pursuing patrons from its key markets with multiple marketing efforts.
"Our wintertime ad campaign has started, including wrapped buses and trains in New York City, and buses and the 'L' (train) in Chicago," said David Downing, deputy director of Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater.
The county's annual figures were bolstered by record December numbers of 419,800 overnight visitors, 4.7 percent higher than the previous year.
A decline in the nationwide unemployment rate, an increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and gains in late 2011 in the Consumer Confidence Index are indicators of economic improvement that are bolstering the visitors industry, Walter Klages, head of Research Data Services, said in the report for the Pinellas visitors bureau.
Other tourism highlights from December:
- More than two of every five overnight visitors were in the area for the first time.
- Three out of four visitors used air transportation to get here, with 67.4 percent flying into Tampa international Airport, 21.1 percent using Orlando International Airport, and 5.4 percent using St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
- Hillsborough County, using a different visitors industry consultant and study, on Monday reported an 8.3 percent increase to 4.96 million hotel and motel visitors in 2011 compared with 2010.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement