Airport sets passenger record reenforcing sentiment that tourism is back — at least for now

CLEARWATER —St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, which traces its history back to 1941, had the best month in its history in July as questions remain whether red tide and the Delta variant will derail tourism gains.

In all, 262,681 passengers came through the airport last month surpassing the previous peak of 246,223 travelers in June of 2019.

According to the airport, the July passenger number is a 90% jump over July 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging and global tourism was at a standstill. When compared with July 2019, passenger traffic was up 7%.

Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 40% when compared with the first six months of 2020, and the 1.2 million passengers traveling through the airport thus far this year nearly matches the 1.3 million passengers using the airport for the entirety of 2020.  

Despite the huge percentage increases when comparing today’s traffic with a month in the midst of the pandemic and the dramatic headlines they generate, the increase in passenger traffic is the latest sign that tourism in Pinellas County is bouncing back and surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

According to data from the county tax collector’s office, bed tax collections rose 243% to $7.7 million in May, up from $2.2 million in 2020 and are 43% higher than the $5.3 million collected in 2019. Year-to-date, collections are up 43.8% over a year ago to $36 million.

(The county’s tax collector’s office posted the calendar year-to-date bed tax figures through June but only the monthly collections breakdown through May were available.)

The question now for tourism officials in Pinellas and elsewhere is whether the combination of red tide and renewed worries over spikes in COVID infections will undo the progress of the past several months.  

St. Pete-Clearwater International’s history goes back to shortly after Pearl Harbor when it was built as a military training base known as the Pinellas Army Airfield. After the war, the federal government gave the property to the county which operated Pinellas International Airport and gave rise to the call letters PIE. It was re-christened St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in 1958 and the name was shortened in 2013.