ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Amongst the four areas with the most tourist development tax collections in Pinellas County, vacation rentals brought in the highest amount of money in June, according to Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.

What You Need To Know

  • Officials say vacation rentals brought in 38% of the June bed tax

  • June had second highest bed tax collection ever at $8.5 million

  • NextHome Beach Time Realty manages 130 vacation rentals in Pinellas County 

  • The company's owner said its rentals have created about $440,000 in bed tax

“Where we’re kind of seeing this rise is, obviously, in this vacation rental miscellaneous segment that we get from TDT collections,” said Eddie Kirsch, VSPC data and digital director. “We can see the number of listings continuing to increase for Airbnb.”

Kirsch released the data at the tourist development council meeting last month and said the total tourist development tax collection nearly broke a record.

“For the month of June, this was the second time ever that we surpassed $8.5 million in TDT collections,” he said. “Our best year ever was 2022. This was our second-best year ever.” 

Kirsch said the four areas with the most tourist development tax collections have been from hotels in Clearwater-Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach-Tierra Verde, St. Petersburg and vacation rentals.

In June, he said vacation rentals brought in 38% of the tax, with the second highest collection coming from Clearwater-Clearwater Beach at 26%.

The vacation rental market surpassed the hotels in those four areas for bed tax collections in 2020, and the segment has continuously grown for the past decade, according to Kirsch.

“We can really see how it’s sort of changed things. In 2013, it made up about 16% of our total TDT collections,” he said. “By 2024, that has grown to about 38% of our TDT collections.” 

Annie Fleeting owns NextHome Beach Time Realty, which manages 130 vacation rental units, including the Sunrise Resort in St. Pete Beach. She said her company has collected about $440,000 in bed tax, which is a 10% increase from last year.

“We get about a third of our business from Airbnb and about a third of our business from VRBO, and then a third are repeat customers,” she said. “It’s nice to know that we’re making such a significant contribution to the betterment of the county and all the things that we’re able to do.”

Pinellas County uses the tourist development tax, which was a record-breaking $98 million in 2023, to pay for big-ticket items that draw tourists. For example, beach renourishment and helping to pay for a new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Fleeting said short-term rentals have changed the way people vacation, and the future looks bright for everyone.

“There’s always going to be a place for vacation rental properties that are well-maintained and allow a family to vacation a little bit more comfortably and more space a bit more affordably,” she said. “We’re providing lots of people with wonderful vacations and memories that they’ll never forget.”