Tampa is now one of the Top Meeting Destinations in North America for 2023. Tampa was featured as the 24th top meeting destination by industry-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider, Cvent.
“This is a well-deserved recognition for the city of Tampa and the Tampa Convention Center as we continue to be an economic driver for our community,” said David Ingram, Executive Director of the Tampa Convention Center. “We are thankful for our team and partners who have created positive relationships with our clients and attracted even more events to our facility and City.”
Top 25 Best Meeting Destinations
This is the first time Cvent has released the globally recognized list since the pandemic. Tampa rose seven spots from the most recent list in 2019. Then it was ranked as the 31st top meeting destination.
2023 is projected to be a record-breaking year for the Tampa Convention Center. With events and conventions seeing increases in attendance.
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“Meetings, events, and conventions bring significant value. The cities featured this year have convention and visitors bureaus and destination management companies that have embraced their role as destination advocates and have made hotel and planner engagement a priority,” said Bharet Malhotra, Cvent Senior Vice President, Hospitality Cloud.
The Tampa Convention Center is also nearing completion of its $38 million Capital Improvement Plan. Its largest renovation project since it opened in 1990, which is due to be finished in late June.
“2023 will be an even bigger year for meetings in Tampa with the Tampa Convention Center finishing up their capital renovations this summer,” said Santiago Corrada, CEO and president of Visit Tampa Bay.
Cvent features the Tampa Convention Center in its Meeting and Event Planning Guide to Tampa Bay. Cvent highlighted Tampa for its cultural heritage and rich culinary and arts scene. It notes that Tampa includes more than 120 hotels for guests to stay at while attending meetings and events.
The Top Meeting Destinations list recognizes cities that are successfully attracting meetings and events. Rankings are determined based on sourcing activity through the Cvent Supplier Network. Cvent evaluated more than 12,500 cities worldwide in 2022. Criteria included the number of booking requests sent to venues within the city and the awarded value for meetings booked.
