Visit St. Pete Clearwater

The VisitSPC Meetings Team is right out on the road to start the new year, ready to show RCMA Emerge attendees why America's Favorite Beaches are ideal for faith-based groups to cap their meetings with one of our beautiful Gulf sunsets! Hortensia Simmons, HMCC has all the details and incentives!

We appreciate every opportunity to show off our incredible destination - especially when we can host a group of 26 travel agents from the Brazilian market, allowing them to immerse themselves in the destination and gain valuable insights and knowledge to effectively promote and sell it to their clients. Thank you to all the following participating partners: 3 Daughters Brewing, Morean Arts Center, JW Marriott Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa, Opal Collection Opal Sands Resort, The Dalí Museum, and The St. Pete Pier. BWT Operadora also celebrated its annual sales awards ceremony at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort, recognizing agencies that demonstrated outstanding performance throughout the year. It marked the first time that the prestigious event was held outside their native Brazil and in the United States! Present at the event were Adonai Arruda Filho, Gabriel Cordeiro, Saulo Reis Jr., Bruno D., Pinellas County Commissioner Brian Scott, and VisitSPC’s President/CEO Brian Lowack. This event further solidifies Visit St. Pete-Clearwater’s dedication to increasing its presence in Latin American markets and supporting travel professionals who are committed to offering their clients unforgettable travel experiences. Andrea Gabel, MBA, Liz McCann, Eddie D.

The VisitSPC Marketing team has been honored with four Adrian Awards from Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)! Thanks to our partners at BVK, Miles Partnership, and MMGY PR for incredible executions!   Celebrating 100 Years of Shuffleboard Media Event in NYC – Silver Adrian (PR Special Event category)  - To garner awareness of our destination, VisitSPC leveraged the special anniversary of the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club to host an invite-only media event in New York City.     Gulf to Bay Destination Magazine – Bronze Adrian (Advertising Print Collateral category)  - Now in its 11th year, the publication is annually recognized for its outstanding production as well as its distribution tactics to inspire travel to the destination while also providing a comprehensive guide to navigate and make the most of a vacation. 727 Day Event – Bronze Adrian (Integrated Campaign, Reputation Management category)  - The special event on July 27 included a collection of resident-only deals and served to thank residents for being such welcoming hosts to the millions of annual visitors to our destination. It was truly a special day, From Visitors with Love.  SEM Performance Max Campaign that resulted in nearly 70 million impressions – Bronze Adrian (Search Marketing Strategy category)  - VisitSPC, an early adopter of Google Performance Max Search Engine Marketing, efficiently reached our target audiences by meeting travelers on the channels they use for travel inspiration and trip planning.  Steve Grimes, Katie Bridges, Eddie Kirsch, Eddie D., Jessica Morrow, Jimmy Fashner, BaiLeigh Carlson, Dede Haggerty, MBA, EDFP, PDM, CHIA, Kiki Russell, and Ken Chambers

The VisitSPC Meetings crew shined again in 2024, taking home a couple great honors from the Meetings Industry. Smart Meetings selected Visit St. Pete-Clearwater as a 2024 Smart Meetings Platinum Choice Award winner. Industry professionals and Smart Meetings readers cast votes to select the honorees for the top-rated hotels, venues, and CVBs in the hospitality industry that exhibit the highest standards of service and amenities. Congrats also to 3 of our hotel partners which won in the Hotel Category: Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach, Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa and TradeWinds Resort Additionally, Meetings Today recognized Visit St. Pete-Clearwater among their 2024 “Best of” Award recipients. The publication’s meeting planner audience cast votes for those teams delivering exceptional dedication and service. We have so many great locations to meet during the day and soak in the trademark sunsets on America's Favorite Beaches! Don't miss the chance to book with the best today - https://lnkd.in/gZ8Ntbzk 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 Hortensia Simmons, HMCC Tina Berrien Brian Hilterbrandt Kayla Freeman Liz Dane Stephanie Alexander-Priakos Renee Prine

Thank you Destinations Florida (Suzanne Hurst, CAE!) for including Visit St. Pete Clearwater President/CEO Brian Lowack on your panel at last week's conference in Tampa. Along with Erin Duggan, Milton Segarra, CDME and Susan Phillips (St. Augustine/Ponte Vedra) guests were treated to an engaging discussion that provided incredible insight about their first year on the job and key learnings as the heads of some incredible DMO's. Some great takeaways for the room of destination marketers ready who continue to grow visitation to our incredible state!

The St. Pete-Clearwater arts community is Still Shining! This past weekend, Creative Pinellas debuted the incredibly creative work from 25 Pinellas County artists, showcasing each artists' unique 12×12 artwork celebrating the resilience and enduring beauty of the region in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Merritt Horan, known for curating group exhibitions at the Bellwether Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach, brought her curatorial vision and expertise to the special project. “Our cultural community is defined as much by its generosity of spirit as it is by the artistic excellence created here,” said Margaret Murray, Creative Pinellas CEO. 

Creativity knows no bounds in St. Pete-Clearwater! Amazing artist Abby Wren visited recently to shine a light on the annual Shine Mural Festival in City of St. Petersburg to make sure everyone knows our community is Still Shining bright! With beautiful art all around us and a community focused on spreading positivity through creativity - this is an amazing place for art exploration! She's inspirational; her message is inspirational; and the collective art is inspirational! https://lnkd.in/eh6jv29c

The meetings team is ready to help you have your best group outing yet! The wonderful Stephanie Alexander-Priakos will be in frigid Chicago this week at the Association Forum Holiday Showcase to let you know about all the beautiful sunshine you are missing at America's Favorite Beaches! Learn more about meetings opportunities and group outings: https://lnkd.in/gZ8Ntbzk

Thank you, City of Oldsmar, Florida Mayor Daniel Saracki for having Visit St. Pete-Clearwater President/CEO Brian Lowack as your guest to talk about all the great work being done by the local Tourism and Hospitality Industry and the importance of visitors to our local economy! #ExperienceOldsmar

Stop what you're doing - big news from Clearwater Beach... Arguably the best location for sunset viewing and cocktail sipping IS BACK and Still Shining! Great to see the doors swing open at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill! https://lnkd.in/eRqQEwpU