TORONTO — In the words of Jason Latimer, the Director, Public Relations for Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, “St. Pete- Clearwater has America’s best beaches and Canada is our top international market. We want folks up north to know we have a great destination and a place they can go to relax. We appeal to everybody with something for all ages.”
Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays were at the Rogers Centre visiting the Toronto Blue Jays, so Visit St. Pete-Clearwater hosted industry partners at the game to showcase the destination.
“We welcomed 600,000 Canadians in 2023. There are a variety of price points and plenty of direct air service, with announcements coming about more direct routes into the destination starting this summer,” said Latimer.
The destination is made up of 24 individual municipalities, each with their own personality. Dunedin is popular with Torontonians as it’s the home of the Blue Jays’ spring training complex. Gulfport is a unique and quirky, very artsy city. Tarpon Springs is home to the largest population of Greek Americans in the country.
This year, the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club, America’s oldest and largest shuffleboard club, is turning 100. Right down the street, The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, the ‘Grand Dame’ of St. Petersburg, is also turning 100 next year.
In terms of new accommodation offerings, the Opal Collection is planning to open the luxury Opal Sol in the spring, with a collection of 250 oceanview suites. The JW Marriott Resort & Spa just opened on Clearwater Beach.
As for baseball, there are two spring training facilities in St. Pete-Clearwater, for the Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. Across the bay in Tampa, there’s the New York Yankees. South in Sarasota, there’s the Baltimore Orioles. Even further south is spring training for the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays, with the Detroit Tigers just off to the east in Lakeland. “Spring training is very popular with folks coming down in the spring,” explained Latimer.
In fact, the Rays are aiming to break ground by the end of this year on a new baseball stadium that they plan to open for the 2028 regular season. They’re just waiting for final approval. The cost for the stadium will be US$1.3 billion, with around 30,000 seats in a smaller dome.
The stadium will be part of the development of 86-acres around the stadium which, including the stadium, will cost $6.5 billion to build. A new hotel and 6,000 housing units will be part of the development. The plan is to be finished phase one of the development at the same time the stadium opens.
Travellers have two air options for arriving at the destination that are just under 20 kilometres apart. There’s St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), and Tampa International Airport (TPA). “PIE is like Billy Bishop Toronto Island Airport and TPA is like Toronto Pearson, that’s the best analogy,” explained Jeff Clauss, Director of Air Service Development & Marketing for St. Pete-Clearwater International, who was also on hand for the game. “St. Pete airport is close to the beaches and more of throwback airport that’s easier to navigate, which is why our mottos are ‘Easy as PIE’ and ‘Everyone loves PIE.’”
“There’s enough evidence that people love travelling to our destination, so we’re here to do whatever we can to help travel advisors do their jobs,” said Latimer.
Watch out as a new direct route to St. Pete-Clearwater from Toronto Pearson is expected to be announced soon.
To learn more about the destination, go to VisitSPC.com.
Main photo: Visit St. Pete-Clearwater’s Jason Latimer, Rosemarie Payne and Brian Lowack along with (far right) Jeff Clauss with St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (photo courtesy Chris Kinasz)
