Dear Partners,

We had a blast celebrating you – our local tourism and hospitality industry – at the Besties, last week. Your dedication and passion for our beautiful destination is a key piece of what makes our slice of paradise a place that millions of visitors know and love. All the work and impact to our community must be recognized – congratulations to all the winners! It was truly a special night!

Never has the value of tourism been more important and you will hear us continue to share that message with our entire community. With your continued and invaluable support, promoting St. Pete-Clearwater and what makes it such a special destination, is a not just a joy we can all take pride in, but an important cog in our Pinellas County economic engine.

The VisitSPC team continues the rewarding efforts to promote all that St. Pete-Clearwater has to offer on multiple fronts. In addition to hosting international travel agents and media, we completed several sales missions both domestically and internationally as well as media meetings in Latine America. We will continue this momentum over the next month tackling important markets such as Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. Additionally, we eagerly anticipate participating in this year's IPW in Chicago, leveraging the opportunities to position St. Pete-Clearwater as America's Favorite Beaches, with a culinary scene that’s recognized for its excellence, along with arts and culture, & so much more.

Also, this month, we have launched a pilot program to encourage visitors to “Stay & Play”. Highlighting our online booking engine, we are rewarding visitors with a digital gift card for booking their overnight stay with us. This is our first step to a shifting advertising program this summer aimed at the Greater Tampa Bay area and Florida drive markets.

Thanks for reading and, more importantly, thank you for your partnership!

This year's Besties Awards was the biggest yet! During last week's ceremony 34 winners were selected as the Best of St. Pete-Clearwater during a celebration at The Floridian Social in downtown St. Pete.

We're excited to announce the winners of the business card drawing—each receiving valuable promotional opportunities made possible through a partnership secured by our agency, BVK.

The newest edition of the Gulf to Bay Destination Magazine is now available, and it is packed with more than 100 pages highlighting the amazing activities and experiences awaiting visitors!

New to this year's magazine is a convenient tear-out map with suggested itineraries and fun stickers, plus a comprehensive listing of annual events to help families plan their perfect trip to America's Favorite Beaches. 

Nearly 400,000 copies of the glossy magazine will be inserted into newspapers in key markets later this summer and fall, promoting the ideal destination for the perfect amount of sun & fun.  

As our local hospitality industry grows, the need for a strong industrious workforce continues. To address these future opportunities, the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA), St. Petersburg College (SPC) and Visit St. Pete-Clearwater have teamed up to re-imagine the school's "Introduction to Hospitality" course to weave in real life experiences and access to industry experts.

FRLA will be offering vital scholarship assistance, ensuring opportunities are available for those in need. Additionally, they will be taking the students out of the classroom for “on-the-field” curated destination learnings and experiences as well as providing dedicated material for the course. VisitSPC will be providing coursework and direction, helping coordinate access to such hand-on experience with our industry partners. 

Check out the link below for more information. Share this important update with your network. Opportunity awaits at all levels of the hospitality industry and FRLA, SPC and VisitSPC are ready to help the next generation find their path to success!

727 Day is right around the corner. Last year was a blast, and this year promises to be no different. Stay tuned for more details about this year's celebration. In the meantime, please think about a 727-specific and exclusive deal/special that you would like to promote to Pinellas County residents.

Mark your calendars! The green flag has been given for next year's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Set to return to the streets of Downtown St. Pete, the event dates are set for Feb. 27 to March 1, 2026.

This year's high-speed event averaged 1.4 million viewers, up 45% from last year’s race. According to FOX, with a peak of 1.8 million viewers, it became the most-watched non-Indy 500 race since the 2011 season opener – 14 years!

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater was pleased to welcome the Netherlands Educational FAM Trip to our destination from April 3-5. This initiative was a collaborative sales effort with Delta Air Lines to promote the existing year-round direct service between Amsterdam and Tampa Bay.

The trip welcomed 10 top-performing independent travel advisors, all members of the Travel Counselors network. These advisors, while operating independently, leverage the network’s tools and content to create personalized travel experiences that cater to the individual preferences and needs of their clients.

South Carolina triumphed at this year's SEC Women's Golf Championship, which was held at the prestigious Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. The four-day event was streamed live on SEC+ with the final round broadcast on the SEC Network.

This spring saw the destination host three major swimming events at the beautiful waterfront North Shore Aquatic Complex in downtown St. Petersburg. In total, the 3 meets - International Swim Coaches Association (ISCA) International Senior Cup, ISCA International East Elite Showcase and the Boys & Girls Club Swimming National Championships – combined to attract nearly 8,000 overnight attendees and occupy more than 10,500 room nights.

Last month, we welcomed a group of Mexico-based journalists to experience the destination's culinary excellence as well as other activities in the area. VisitSPC would like to give special thanks to the Hyatt Place St. Petersburg Downtown, The Chart House, ECOMersion, Bay E-Bikes, St. Pete Brewing Co., as well as restaurants Cognac, OLIVIA, Perry's Porch, Pulpo Kitchen & Lounge and Frenchy's Rockaway Grill for showing the media members how wonderful it is to visit our slice of paradise.

Additionally, VisitSPC affirmed our presence in the Latin America market by participating in IMM Brazil in São Paulo, Brazil, engaging more than 25 members of the media as well as content creators, sharing the latest news about our destination and creating opportunities to promote the destination in a key market.

St. Pete-Clearwater is competing in USA Today's 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards under the following categories:

Best Beaches in Florida

- Clearwater Beach
- Honeymoon Island State Park
- St. Pete Beach
- Treasure Island 

Best Beach Bar in America

- Salty's Beach Lounge
- Sloppy Joe's on the Beach

Best Fishing Charter

Hubbard's Marina

Best Boat Tour

Little Toot Dolphin Adventure

In this YouTube video, Eater, a digital media brand dedicated to all things food and dining, highlighted The Tides Market in Safety Harbor.

How a Seafood Market in Florida Became Michelin Recognized — The Experts

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater launches new Stay and Play Promotion with fun rewards

The recent partnership between St. Petersburg College and VisitSPC was featured in the following articles:

SPC, visitor’s bureau launch revamped hospitality course

St. Petersburg College partners with Visit St. Pete-Clearwater to redesign hospitality education

As a result of hosting avianca's inaugural flight, Colombian media outlet Semana published the following article, highlighting activities and events in St. Pete-Clearwater:

Vacaciones en Florida: planes y precios para unos días inolvidables en la ciudad de Tampa

The Partner Portal is the gateway to updating your business listing and staff member directory, upload videos, photos, and special offers, share your social media channels, & so much more. Partners with questions about navigating the Partner Portal or that do not have a username or password to log in to the partner portal, can email Contact@VisitSPC.com.