ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Pinellas County is on track with its tourist development tax collections at more than $71 million to beat the best year on record, according to Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.
“Our fiscal year total to date is about 1.5 percent higher than our total through May 2023,” said Jason Latimer, VSPC Public Relations Director. “Which was a record year for TDT for Pinellas County.”
The latest data released showed May collections at $9.1 million, up from $8 million in 2025 and $8.5 million in 2024, which made it the fourth month this calendar year to break a record, with March coming in just shy, according to VSPC.
“It’s going to be a great year,” said Brian Lowack, VSPC President and CEO. “We’ve seen that the folks from all of our inbound domestic markets that maybe took the year off in 2025 post storms, they’ve returned.”
The tourism agency attributes the growth to a few factors which include more visitors traveling to the area for special events or festivals, the travel party composition has shifted, visitors and hotel revenue returned from key markets, and upper tier and mid-tier hotel scales are growing.
“You’re seeing new properties come online, and then existing properties have gone through some renovations,” said Lowack. “So those are new experiences in the destination that accommodate a host of different types of visitors. And so we think that those are helping drive this surge that we’re seeing now.”
The Luce Hotel in St. Pete Beach has been a prime example of a formerly value hotel, the Postcard Inn, transitioning to a luxury Marriott Tribute Hotel after the 2024 hurricanes. An upscale hotel has a minimum rate of $350 per night, which can bring in a lot more bed tax money.
“With The Luce in particular, you’re seeing it’s a different type of property,” said Lowack. “So you’re going to get higher ADR (Average Daily Rate) that’s going to drive the revenue growth that you see particularly down there on the southern county beaches.”
The Luce opened on June 11, and General Manager Jeremy DaSilva said he has already seen some return guests.
“I’ve had about four or five guests that have already stayed with us four different occasions,” he said. “They’re here almost every weekend.”
DaSilva said they’re still ramping up operations, and he expects bigger numbers to come, when the season begins to ramp up after Labor Day.
“At this point, we want to make sure that everybody who walks through our doors is having that best experience, because that repeat customer is what’s really going to help bring us over the market,” he said. “So 2027, we feel, is going to be a strong year for all of us.”
A mid-tier hotel, which charges $200 per night, has driven the numbers with more supply added to the market over the past couple of years, combined with more demand from visitors. VSPC has been collecting record amounts of bed tax despite a few large hotels still being closed since the 2024 hurricanes in St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island.
“We’re off to a strong start,” said Lowack. “We see into the future that’s going to continue to maintain itself in 2026.”
Pinellas County tourism generates more than $10 billion in economic impact annually, according to VSPC. The TDT money collected is used by the county to pay for beach renourishment, capital projects such as the Dali Museum expansion, and to market the destination.