As tourism analyst Chris Klauda was on her way from Tennessee to Tampa, she chatted with a fellow traveler: "a classic millennial." "She told me Tampa was the new Miami," Klauda said during a Thursday morning presentation to a group of Hillsborough County hoteliers. To Read more on this, Click Here!
Now that the hotel industry has largely embraced bans on plastic straws, one major hotel group aims to eliminate the next set of plastic targets: mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and the like. To read more about the steps they are willing to take, Click Here!
If Orlando-based lawyer John Morgan has his way, millions of Florida workers could be getting a raise. To read more about how he is going to accomplish this, Click Here!
Three weeks ahead of schedule, Coastal Construction paused Wednesday to mark the topping off of the 26-story JW Marriott hotel in Water Street Tampa and serve the 400 construction workers on the job a lunch of barbecued pork and chicken. To read more on the their progress, Click Here!
More than 30 years later, the Seminoles and executives Hard Rock International paused to mark how far they've come together. A $720 million expansion of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is scheduled to be done Oct. 3, with a celebratory concert by country music superstar Keith Urban in the casino's new event [...]
Hillsborough County will increase the tax rate on overnight stays at local hotels by 1 percent (from 5 to 6 percent) joining other counties designated as high-impact tourism areas. Only counties generating yearly hotel tax revenues of $600 million or more are eligible to increase taxes collected on hotel rooms by an additional 1 percent. [...]
TAMPA — The Westin Tampa Bay sold for $57.6 million, according to a deed recorded Friday with the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court. The sale of the 244-room hotel in Tampa's Rocky Point area was announced last week but the price was not disclosed then. To read more on this article by Susan [...]
There’s an assumption among Rays’ stadium supporters in Tampa that Hillsborough County’s newly-increased bed tax is a guaranteed $6+ million a year to help finance a new ballpark in Ybor City. However, several county commissioners are privately casting doubt on that assumption, as there are a lot of things those tax dollars can fund other than a [...]
Alaska Airlines is offering another direct flight between Seattle and Tampa beginning in December. The flight, which begins Dec. 19, will be the second daily flight between the two cities and is part of a larger expansion of the airline's Florida destinations. To read more of Malena Carollo's article, CLICK HERE!
The Westin Tampa Bay has been sold to a Nashville-based firm. Castlerock Asset Management declined to say what it paid for the 16-story, 244-room hotel at 7627 W Courtney Campbell Causeway. No deed had been recorded as of Tuesday. To read more of Susan Taylor Martin's insightful article, Click Here!