It’s been a busy, banner year for Visit Tampa Bay.
On the culinary front, the marketing and tourism development organization for Tampa and Hillsborough County released the second edition of its “Tampa’s Table” cookbook, which features recipes from local restaurants, had six more restaurants added to the latest edition of the Michelin Guide to Florida.
Hasbro released a Tampa edition of the iconic board game Monopoly. Aeromexico
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Visit Tampa BayVisit Tampa Bay President and CEO Santiago C. Corrada at the event unveiling the Monopoly: Tampa edition board game.has launched daily flights from Tampa to Mexico City. Jimmy Buffet-inspired cruise line Margaritaville at Sea’s new ship, Islander, is sailing out of Port Tampa Bay.
Convention business continues to boom, with the Omega Psi Phi fraternity's Grand Conclave in late June and early July drawing a crowd of nearly 30,000. This comes after the expansion and renovation of the downtown waterfront Tampa Convention Center and a $1 million Visit Tampa Bay marketing campaign focused on attracting more convention and event business.
Tourism development, or bed, tax revenues topped $7 million in consecutive months for the first time in March and April and exceeded $6 million in May for the third straight year. Visit Tampa President and CEO Santiago C. Corrada expects June numbers will set a record for that month.
Corrada says the successes and achievements are the fruits of an effort that stretches back to 2013, when he joined Visit Tampa Bay after a tenure at the City of Tampa that included roles as chief of staff and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Tampa Convention Center.
“We had an opportunity to rebrand and determine how we would sell and market the destination to the world over 10 years ago when I first came over,” Corrada says. “They were in a rebranding and renaming process and we didn’t want to market the destination as your typical Florida cities might - the palm trees, the sun, the water, the beaches, etcetera. We took a more unique approach to how we marketed Tampa and Hillsborough County. It was around history, culture, the arts, food and what makes Tampa unique.”
Visit Tampa Bay published the first volume of “Tampa’s Table” in 2018 through a collaborative ffort with the local restaurant industry to spotlight “unique restaurants you wouldn’t find anywhere else,” Corrada says.
Following that book’s success, Visit Tampa Bay put out “Tampa with a Twist,” which showcases Tampa cocktail recipes and a lively libations history that includes Prohibition-era rum runners. Then came “A Photographic Journey Through Tampa Bay,” a coffee table book that spotlights local attractions, architecture, scenery, Ybor City’s cigar culture and more. Now, Visit Tampa Bay is back with a second volume of “Tampa’s Table.”
“It’s not just recipes,” Corrada says. “It’s the personal stories, the family stories behind the recipes. It’s a labor of love quite honestly because our team puts it all together internally. It’s well worth it because our restaurants prosper through the work. It’s a hot seller. Realtors buy them by the box to market properties. It’s a nice piece, a nice investment for us.”
Connecting with Michelin, Monopoly
About a year and a half after the first volume of “Tampa’s Table” was published, Corrada got a phone call from a colleague at Visit Orlando. Representatives from the prestigious Michelin Guide, an authority on restaurants for an international audience of travelers, wanted to do a guide focusing on Florida’s culinary scene, After connecting with Visit Florida and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the first Michelin Guide for Florida published in 2022 and featured restaurants from Miami, Orland and Tampa.
During a ceremony in Tampa earlier this year, Michelin added six Tampa restaurants to the guide’s third Florida edition. Two restaurants, Ebbe and Kōsen, earned Michelin stars, while Lilac, Rocca and Koya maintained their status as Michelin-starred restaurants. Streetlight Taco received Bib Gourmand recognition while Predalina, Supernatural Food & Wine and The Pearl earned spots on the guide’s recommended restaurant list. In total, 30 Tampa area restaurants are now recognized in the Michelin Guide.
“The Michelin Guide is used by travelers worldwide,” Corrada says. “It’s another example of how we are working at being a globally-recognized destination.”
The same goes for Monopoly: Tampa Edition, which came out in March. Created by Top Trumps USA and licensed by Hasbro, the Tampa version of the legendary board game includes Tampa hallmarks like Ybor City, Busch Gardens, Bayshore Bouleavard, Curtis Hixon Park, Davis Islands Beach, Downtown Tampa, the University of Tampa, the TECO Line Streetcar and the Gasparilla Pirate Festival.
“We’ve been on their radar for quite some time,” Corrada says. “They reached out to us as the leadership organization for destination marketing to give them an exhaustive list of businesses, organizations and historic locations that might be interested.”
Other local landmarks on the board include Raymond James Stadium, the Tampa Bay History Center, the Florida Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Tampa Riverwalk.
“We’re very happy to have some of our partners and friends represented on the game board,” Corrada says. “It’s an iconic brand and to have it connected to the Tampa brand is very good for us. It’s another way to market the destination in a very unique way.”
For more information, go to Visit Tampa Bay, Tampa Michelin recipients,