The moment it touched down Friday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, Lufthansa German Airlines Flight 482 confirmed the Tampa Bay area's status as a world-class destination.
Lufthansa's five nonstop flights from Frankfurt, Germany, each week extend the region's reach to major cities across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
They expand upon our ties to Latin America via Panama-based Copa Airlines, and join British Airways and Edelweiss Air at Tampa International Airport. Along with them, Emirate Airlines arrived last month in Orlando, opening the way from India via its hub in Dubai.
In short, the Tampa Bay's area's time as a global destination has arrived.
Today's Tampa area is a far cry from the distant, diffident place I knew growing up in Miami. Back then, Miami was Florida's sparkling gem: a city of glamorous Art Deco hotels, a sexy Caribbean vibe and an international reputation. The Tampa Bay region offered weekend trips for jazz, blues or cigars, but, otherwise, had little to recommend it.
That old Tampa Bay is gone.
In its place stands a diverse and vibrant region that gains praise every day for inspiring award-winning chefs, nurturing Florida's craft beer industry and developing outstanding venues such as the Tampa Riverwalk.
Our collective conviction to reach higher earned the Tampa Bay area the right to host the 2009 Super Bowl, the 2012 Republican National Convention and the 2014 International Indian Film Academy awards — three events that literally brought the world to the Tampa Bay region.
It took guts to attempt each of them and a cooperative vision to pull them off. And, even now, they continue to pay dividends.
Last week, 80 food writers from across the country visited the area, drawn by our rising profile as a must-try foodie destination. They experienced some of the best restaurants and most creative chefs we have to offer and went home excited to spread the word about these treasures we all know so well.
This month, I flew to Mumbai — my third trip to India in two years on behalf of Tampa Bay — to address to the EEMAX Global Awards, India's largest gathering of events and experiential marketers. They invited me to share Tampa Bay's success at attracting and hosting global events like IIFA.
This summer, Money magazine named Tampa Bay the best big city in the Southeast based, in part, on our growing job market, affordable home prices and cultural gems like the Tampa Museum of Art and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
In the two years since I became head of Visit Tampa Bay, I have traveled to Asia, Europe and South America telling the story of this amazing region. I am proud to do so.
After working hard to set our feet upon the world stage, the Tampa Bay area is reaping the rewards.
More than 20 million people visited Hillsborough County in 2014, half a million from overseas. The county's Tourist Development Tax revenue hit $25 million in August, a record that will go higher by the time the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
We lead our competitors across the country in the pace at which we are growing hotel occupancy and profitability.
Once ignored as an economic engine, local tourism has earned respect for its ability to generate tax revenue and create jobs. Tourism puts food on the tables of thousands of Tampa Bay area families and pumps billions of dollars into the local economy every year — contributions that will grow as the region grows as an international destination.
The Tampa Bay area we live in today has changed enormously from the place I remember growing up in South Florida. More change is coming as Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, Tampa International Airport and Port Tampa Bay collectively invest more than $3 billion to transform the area further with new hotels, new residential projects and new employment opportunities.
Thanks to the global vision of leaders on both sides of Tampa Bay, Lufthansa will play a major role in this region's ongoing transformation as a tourism destination. Five days a week, Europe's biggest airline will bring hundreds of visitors — tourists and business people alike — to unlock the sights, sounds and flavors of this region we all treasure: the hip, urban heart of Florida's Gulf Coast.
Santiago Corrada is the president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, which leads Hillsborough County's tourism operations.
Source: Santiago Corrada: Tampa Bay area a global destination
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