Jobs surge in hospitality sector

The Tampa area is scorching hot when it comes to job growth in the hotel industry.

In Atlantic City, Memphis and Myrtle Beach, S.C., not so much.

That's the highlight of a new report from Headlight Data. The Austin-based workforce research firm looked at job growth in hotels and motels, in addition to RV parks and rooming and boarding houses, among the top 50 tourism-heavy counties in the country. The report is based on federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Hotel employment in Hillsborough County grew 6.1% in 2014, from 5,813 jobs in 2013 to 6,170 last year, the report shows. That's good for second place, just behind the 6.7% job growth in Davidson County, Tenn., which includes Nashville. Pinellas County tied for third on the list, with an increase of 5.7%, from 7,704 jobs in 2013 to 8,140 in 2014. Florida made the top list one more time with Orlando, which ranked 10th, with 4.5% growth.

“Each of these new jobs ripples outward, creating more jobs far beyond the hotel industry,” says Visit Tampa Bay President and CEO Santiago Corrada in a blog post on the Headlight Data study. Visit Tampa Bay is Hillsborough County's tourism marketing organization. “Many of these new hospitality workers will have the chance to move up in the industry, building their careers and their communities as they go.”