Tampa is set to host a Super Bowl unlike any other when the Kansas City Chiefs clash with the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, February 7.
2021 marks the fifth time that Tampa will host the NFL's championship game, and the city has proven over multiple decades that it's well-equipped to adapt to challenging circumstances, hosting during the Gulf War in 1991 and the Great Recession in 2009. This time around, Tampa is faced with the mighty task of hosting one of the biggest events in sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
TravelPulse recently spoke with Visit Tampa Bay President and CEO Santiago Corrada to find out how the destination is handling tourism ahead of Super Bowl LV and why Tampa will continue to be a safe and sought-after destination long after the confetti has fallen Sunday night.
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"This is a great destination with a great football team and all of the great assets that you need to put on a Super Bowl. A great airport, convention center and a fantastic stadium. We have a lot of the attributes that it takes to put on a great Super Bowl," he said on a video conference Thursday. "We believe you can balance having an event like this and the economic impact it's going to have on our community and still have public safety as a priority and I can tell you the NFL working with our local team here has taken safety to another level. You will see signage, you will see ambassadors reminding you to put on your face mask, in a nice way of course.
"We want to make sure that our visitors are safe and that we're safe as well so that everyone can have a great time and celebrate the Super Bowl."
According to Corrada, the emphasis on health and safety is nothing new for Tampa. "We've been practicing safety around here for 11 months. Our local elected officials have put policies, procedures and rules in place to keep us all safe. We have mandatory mask ordinances, social distancing and cleanliness throughout from the airport to the media center, the NFL Experience, hotels, restaurants, you name it."
That's not to say that the COVID-19 impact isn't being felt. Raymond James Stadium will be limited to about one-third of its capacity on Sunday, and many events have had to be canceled or made virtual. In-person meetings and interviews that would typically draw in more visitors have been relegated to Zoom and other video conferencing platforms.
COVID-19 isn't the only thing that makes Super Bowl LV unlike any other in history, however. The Buccaneers are playing the first-ever Super Bowl home game, and the team's postseason success is good news for the city.
"Anytime Tampa, Tampa Bay is mentioned is free marketing and free advertising," Corrada told Reuters this week. "I can only imagine what a Super Bowl win does for us."
With an average high temperature of 80 degrees and nearly 250 sunny days on average each year, Tampa's climate is undoubtedly one of its biggest draws, but Florida's third-largest city has much more to offer visitors to Florida's Gulf Coast, even if they are waiting until after the Big Game to experience it.
"We are a uniquely Florida city and we embrace that. We've always talked about our historic neighborhoods and what's made us who we are so I think you'll see a very different kind of marketing," added Corrada. "We like to call ourselves 'Florida's Most,' Florida's most great things in one place. So, if you love sports, we have sports. If you love beaches, right across the bridge we have some of the greatest beaches in the country. If you like culture, history and the arts, we have all of that in spades.
"There's something for everyone here in this destination to enjoy and Tampa is a fabulous place to visit during the winter months because the weather cooperates with us."
His message to travel advisors is a simple one. Your clients can experience Tampa safely and with confidence.
"During the pandemic, we've actually done better than many other destinations because we've been focused on safety," he said. "Tampa is a safe destination to visit. We have local ordinances in place to keep our visitors safe and to keep us safe. We can just about guarantee if people are personally responsible that they can come here and enjoy this destination and be safe. There's a great way to balance still enjoying life and public safety as well."
Check out VisitTampaBay.com to learn more.
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