By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, March 1, 2017
TAMPA — After spending more than 30 years working at SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country, Busch Gardens’ newest park president, Stewart Clark, still wasn’t prepared for the backlash he and his family faced after the release of the documentary, Blackfish.
Another recession is coming, Tampa Bay.
The main questions are: When will it arrive and how severe will it be?
A team of Tampa Bay Times business reporters have talked to dozens of business owners, Realtors, bankers, economists, tourism leaders, retailers and others to gauge the arrival of the next recession. We put together a special section on the topic.
Here are links to the stories I contributed.
A recession could be a bloodbath for restaurants in Tampa Bay
After the last recession, it took a while before people in Tampa Bay started splurging again on dining out.
Eventually they did. And as the economy recovered, new restaurants began to sprout all over the area, turning Tampa Bay into an exciting new foodie destination.
But a number of those restaurants might not be here for the long haul.
Some analysts say the next restaurant recession is on the horizon. There are too many restaurants to choose from and communities can’t support every new corner cafe and bistro popping up in hot neighborhoods around downtown St. Pete or South Tampa.
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Tourism continues to thrive in Tampa Bay despite Zika and Brexit, but is it recession proof?
When gas prices go up and wages go down, one of the first things consumers slash from their budgets is a vacation.
But with thousands of new hotel rooms coming online and existing room rates continuing to climb, local tourism boosters in Tampa Bay don’t see any signs of an economic recession in sight.
Pinellas and Hillsborough counties have reported record-shattering bed tax collections for years since the Great Recession and rates are only just starting to reach the peak pre-recession levels seen in 2006 and 2007. Both counties have regularly outpaced the state in tourism growth. And with more than 2,000 new hotel rooms set to open in the next few years, tourism officials don’t see a slowdown in their forecast any time soon, even with some hiccups like Zika and Brexit along the way.
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. Aug. 5, 2016.
Longtime residents of Madeira Beach remember when they affectionately referred to their sleepy gulfside community as a “fishing town with a drinking problem.”
But then came the condominium towers. And now some say two proposed projects valued at a combined $200 million threaten to change the landscape of Madeira’s quaint, beachy atmosphere.
“That old quaintness has somewhat gone away already and probably will never come back” said Joe Jorgensen, who has lived on Madeira Beach since 1984. He and other residents started a petition to fight against the development, which generated more than 1,000 signatures in two weeks. “I’m not against all development. I just want to see something that is conducive to our lifestyle. We don’t want to turn into Clearwater Beach.”
Tourism has boomed in Pinellas County since 2011, shattering records set before the recession and driving up hotel room rates from St. Pete Beach to Clearwater Beach. Mom and pop motels that have operated along Pinellas County’s “middle beaches” in Treasure Island and Madeira Beach since the 1950s could face new competition as local municipalities tweak ordinances to attract new development.
Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.
At the Aloft Tampa Downtown hotel, guests can bypass the check-in desk in the lobby and go straight to their room — if they’ve downloaded the Starwood Preferred Guest app on their smartphone.
The Florida tourism industry has an affectionate relationship with Canadian snowbirds. The retirees from Canada who flock here for the winter months have helped build a year-round, bustling tourism season.