Memorial Day tourism number point to solid bounce back for industry

LARGO—Pinellas County saw tourism numbers jump during the Memorial Day weekend, another sign the tourism industry is bouncing back after a brutal 2020.

According to Visit St.Pete/Clearwater, the area saw occupancy rates top 95.9% on Saturday May 29. That’s coupled with the average daily rate for hotel rooms rising to $242.26 per night on Saturday.

The occupancy rate matches Memorial Day weekend 2019, but the room rates were 28.6% higher than in 2019, according to the tourism group.

The news about Memorial Day weekend comes shortly after March’s bed tax collections were reported.

According to data from the county’s tax collector, $9.67 million was collected in March, almost double the $4.9 million that came in 2020 and 1% higher than the $9.57 million in 2019.

Year-to-date, collections are $19.6 million, an increase of 5.6%.

“April collections aren’t in yet,” Visit St. Pete/Clearwater says, “but they are expected to eclipse 2019 and be record-setting.”