Industry Update
May 27, 2021
Latest Gulf to Bay Magazine Released, Best Of Winners Announced
The ninth edition of Gulf to Bay, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater’s award-winning destination magazine published by the Tampa Bay Times, is now available. The 108-page glossy magazine includes expanded outdoors and culinary coverage, a stylish roll-out poster and the ever-popular “Best of St. Pete/Clearwater” winners across dozens of categories, including Best Hotel, Best Restaurants and Best Beach. In total, 500,000 copies will be distributed, including more than 200,000 copies over June 6 and 13 in key in-state markets. Another 225,00 copies will hit key out-of-state markets in mid-September and early October, too. Order yours for free here and view the all-new digital guide here.
In Big Win, New Airline Breeze Airways Chooses Tampa Bay
It’s not every day a new airline launches let alone chooses Tampa Bay as one of its core markets, but that’s exactly what happened late last week. Today, Breeze Airways made its inaugural flight departing from Tampa International Airport for Charleston, S.C. Charleston is one of 10 new routes that will come online between now and July. Those other routes include Louisville, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norfolk, Columbus and others. Breeze is founded by David Neelman, who founded JetBlue and four other airlines.
Sports Team, Clearwater Team Up, Host American Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament
For the seventh time in eight years, Clearwater is playing home to the American Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. In partnership with the VSPC Sports & Events team, the tournament started action on Tuesday at BayCare Ballpark and culminates play on Sunday. All games can be seen on ESPN+.
Eight New Videos Published to VSPC YouTube Channel In Past Month
As part of its ongoing content marketing strategy, VSPC continues to produce and market videos highlighting different aspects of the destination. In the past month, eight videos have been published to YouTube, ranging from a new series highlighting St. Pete’s Districts, like the MLK North District, to videos featuring our local communities, like Pass-A-Grille, to hotel-themed videos, like Best Boutique Hotels in St. Pete/Clearwater. On YouTube alone, we’ve seen more than 306,000 views and 5,200 hours of watch time in the past month.
Expedia Seeking Lodging Partners for Travel Week Campaign
There’s still time for local lodging partners to participate in Expedia’s Travel Week, which is one of its biggest travel campaigns of the year. The deadline to sign up is June 1 with the Expedia Travel Week Sale running June 8-12. Lodging partners can offer flexible travel dates from June 8-Jan. 31, 2022, but must have a 20% minimum offer for participation. To sign up or for more information, contact Katy Satterfield.
Latest COVID-19 Updates
• In a collaborative effort between VSPC, Pinellas County Department of Health and Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA), two pop-up vaccine sites prioritizing hospitality workers vaccinated 68 people late last week and this week.
• The U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico will remain restricted through at least June 21, with allowances only for trade and essential travel.
• Last week, the European Union announced an agreement to reopen borders to fully vaccinated travelers. There’s still no update on when the U.S. would open its borders to EU travelers, vaccinated or not.
