Tampa Bay looks to take centre stage in 2017

Fresh off its best summer on record, Visit Tampa Bay is setting its sights on 2017 with new developments and attractions.

Cris Duschek of Visit Tampa Bay dropped by the PAX office recently with updates on the destination, including a couple of star turns for Tampa in 2016.

The strong summer was the culmination of nine consecutive months of bed tax revenue of more than $2 million, Duschek said, adding that with the five per cent levy set to increase to six per cent, Tampa Bay is eyeing an even-higher payday in 2017.

Tampa Bay’s colourful history has also been featured in a pair of recent films, one already released to critical acclaim and the other forthcoming. The Infiltrator, based on a true story and starring Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as a Tampa-based undercover agent investigating drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, premiered in the city in July, while Ben Affleck’s Live By Night, set in Tampa’s Ybor City neighbourhood during the Prohibition era, will debut on Dec. 25.

Tampa's Ybor City neighbourhood

Canada remains Tampa’s top international market (with efforts to increase the second-place U.K, she added), and while Canadians from across the country are travelling to the city, 80 per cent of Canadian traffic comes through Toronto Pearson International Airport. Currently, Air Canada and WestJet offer daily flights from YYZ, while Air Canada rouge offers seasonal service from Montreal as of Dec. 16 and WestJet flies weekly from St. John’s in April and May.

Visitors can also take advantage of Tampa’s new 'Fourth Friday' promotion, taking place on the last Friday of each month and featuring special discounts and offers at the city’s museums and restaurants. And for guests looking to reach St. Petersburg, the new Cross Bay Ferry operates from the Tampa Convention Centre between November and May.

In early 2017, the city is jumping onto the food hall trend with a pair of new eateries: the Armature Works and Hall on Franklin, which will see new life breathed into two of Tampa’s historic buildings. And like many other cities, Tampa is no stranger to the craft beer scene, welcoming Rock Brothers Brewing as its most recent addition, combining locally-made beer and a music venue. The city will also see the debut of the Brew Bus next year, a new beer tour operated out of its own brewery in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighbourhood.

Tampa’s hotel inventory will also increase next year with the incoming AC Hotel by Marriott, along with forthcoming new properties in the city’s downtown, West Shore and Ybor City neighbourhoods, as well as at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. In addition, changes are coming to The Paramount and the downtown Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, with an increased focus on wellness.