Visitors spend almost $7 billion in 2022, Pinellas County breaking tourism records
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. - According to Visit St. Pete Clearwater, Pinellas County’s tourism and marketing group, 15.4 million people visited Pinellas in 2022.
That’s more than any other year.
The $6.7 billion dollars those visitors spent also broke records.
Tourism in Pinellas County broke records in 2022.
"As locals, we're lucky to be able to live where everyone else comes to vacation," Brian Lowack, VSPC interim president and CEO, said.
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About $95 million was made in bed taxes in 2022, a 6% sales tax for overnight stays, according to Lowack. That money is reinvested locally.
"We use a portion, a half of a percent, of our bed tax collection is what we use to re-nourish our beaches here in Pinellas County. Additionally, we use those tourist development taxes to pay for spring training facilities, professional stadiums, museums, aquariums. So, there are tons of added benefits," he said.
Visitors spending money make taxes less for residents.
Lowack said tourism also supports more than 109,000 jobs across Pinellas County.
"Tourism is our number one economic driver here in Pinellas County," he said.
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Visitors save locals more than $850 each in taxes every year by generating $423 million in tax revenue, he added.
They spent $2.1 billion in restaurants, $820 million on retail and $510 million on entertainment and sightseeing.
Almost $100 million dollars was made from bed taxes in 2022.
Visit St. Pete Clearwater has a new campaign to highlight the benefits.
"From Visitors with Love is a fun campaign that we started to really thank our residents for being such great hosts to our visitors when they come to the destination, but at the same time, highlight to our residents all the benefits that our visitors provide," Lowack said.
They’re thanking locals by offering discounts on hotels, restaurants and attractions in Pinellas. Most of the deals are good through the end of the year and are listed on Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s website.
Lowack said they’re already expecting this year’s numbers to be higher than last year’s.