TAMPA, Fla. — The past year was a great one for tourism in the Bay area.

And tourism looks to be a major part of the Bay area economy in 2025 as well.

The ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa capped off a record-setting year for tourism numbers across the region.

Early estimates show Tampa-area hotels generated more than $1 billion in taxable revenue. That amount is up by more than $100 million compared to 2023.

An increase in events and conventions in the past year has helped fuel the boom for the local economy.

Visit Tampa Bay president and CEO Santiago Corrada said a strong tourism market in Tampa means more money to help fuel growth and local services.

“Something that we rarely talk about is the property taxes that some of these hotel assets pay to the county and the city that come back as benefit to us in quality of life,” Corrada said. “Whether it’s parks and rec, roads, transportation, law enforcement, fire, those hotel properties pay, annually, in excess of $38 million in property taxes that really comes right back to us.”

And there are no signs of a slowdown in tourism for 2025.

Visit Tampa Bay says it will continue its marketing campaigns for big events and conventions, saying those events help attract repeat visitors to the area.