A good year in the cruise business gives a boost to Hillsborough County's less-than-stellar visitor industry picture.
By ALICIA CALDWELL
Published May 15, 2003
TAMPA - It could have been worse, and Hillsborough County's year in tourism likely would have been were it not for the cruise business that's been thriving at the Port of Tampa.
The county's overall visitor count declined slightly in 2002 from the previous year, from 15.6-million to 15.5-million. The numbers include those who spend the day visiting Hillsborough - including residents of other Tampa Bay area counties - as well as overnight visitors.
But the port saw 16 percent more passengers walk through its terminals last year. Cruise passengers likely were encouraged by industry price cuts. "Our ships have been sailing out full," said Gina Rathbun, marketing manager for the Tampa Port Authority.
The numbers and analysis came out of a study, which cost $98,000 and was based on more than 6,000 visitor surveys. Mark Bonn, a Florida State University professor conducted the survey, which was said to have a 95 percent confidence level.
The report, prepared annually for the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, also showed:
- The economic impact of this year's three-day Gasparilla invasion and parade was estimated at nearly $22-million. The event brought to Tampa nearly 193,000 visitors from outside the county, and it resulted in about 27,000 additional room nights at Tampa area hotels and motels.
- Tampa is drawing more convention groups but far fewer people. The number of groups increased from 192 in 1999 to 321 in 2002, but the number of people coming to Tampa for such events has declined by 33 percent from a high of 488,726.
- The hotel occupancy rate for 2002 was down slightly to 62.9 percent, the fifth straight year of incremental declines. During that time, the supply of hotel rooms in Hillsborough County increased by 20 percent. The average room rate fell for the first time since 1996. Last year, it was $82.70. In the next four years, the supply of hotel rooms will grow by about 9 percent.
- The proportion of overnight visitors who make more than $40,000 a year dropped a few percentage points this year over last year. Given the relative strength of low-cost airlines such as Southwest and Jet Blue, which do significant business out of Tampa International Airport, Bonn theorized that travel price cuts have made leisure trips more affordable for lower-income travelers.
- The average number of nights visitors spent in the county increased from 1.5 to nearly 1.9, and they spent a little more, too. While the average size of a group traveling together remained about the same at slightly less than three people, the average expenditure per party per day went from $189 to nearly $220 last year. The impact of the increase was tempered, however, as researchers did not adjust for inflation.
Bonn told those who attended a breakfast meeting of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, held at the Centre Club in Tampa, that the 2002 numbers weren't bad, given that the year's totals were depressed by the aftershocks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the softening economy. Also, 2001 numbers benefitted from the economic boost of the January 2001 Super Bowl.
"I perceive this to be an outstanding performance in our community," Bonn said. "It's getting back to where we want it to be."
