This video story produced and reported by Courtney Patterson. Web editing by Hanalyse Loboda.
Florida has seen a major decrease in tourism due to COVID-19 and is continuing to feel the negative impact.
With over five billion dollars lost in revenue in Florida alone last year, it has had a direct impact on those who work in the hospitality and tourism industry.
“At the peak of COVID-19, our economy lost almost 20% of its overall output.” Says economics professor Christopher Jones.
In February 2021, Tampa hosted the Super Bowl. This event did not make nearly as big of an economic impact as they have had in previous years of hosting it due to the COVID-19 regulations put in place.
At the Super Bowl, attendance was at 20% holding 25,000 individuals in the stadium along with 30,000 pieces of cardboard acting like fans. This compared to the usual stadium capacity of 65,890 individuals, shows a significant decrease. With the decrease in fans at the stadium, hotels, restaurants and retail stores felt a negative impact.
Even after changes to COVID-19 regulations, there are still strict rules that leave some industries struggling to “rebound.”
The main aspect to grow the economy back is through visitation, which happens through marketing and sales.
“When we continue to fuel the economy great things happen for us here as locals as well.” Says Santiago Corrada, CEO and President of Visit Tampa Bay.
Visit Tampa Bay markets to attract visitors to Hillsborough County. They target conventions and events to happen at the Tampa Convention Center, which contributes to the visitation in the county. These visitors spend money on hotels, restaurants, retail and transportation which creates jobs to serve the tourists, and in turn, boosts the economy.
Prior to COVID-19, hotel occupancy was at 88%. In April 2020, hotel occupancy fell to 23.3%. Due to this decline in occupancy, there is less money being spent in the surrounding area. Restaurants and hotels are still unable to maintain their regular traffic. These businesses have been forced to reduce their hours and capacity or are struggling to find and keep employees.
From an economic standpoint, it is going to take Florida a while to get back to where it used to be.
“We are starting to gain it back, but we still don’t have a complete tourism picture, we’re still missing some things.” Corrada says.
