What Visit St. Pete-Clearwater does

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater is the Official Tourism Marketing Organization for Pinellas County, Florida, operating as a department within Pinellas County Government and headquartered in Largo. The organization promotes a 35-mile stretch of Gulf Coast beaches across 24 communities (including Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, St. Petersburg, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Gulfport, and Safety Harbor) to domestic and international leisure travelers, meeting planners, sports event organizers, and film production companies. It serves as the primary demand-generation and visitor-information layer for the destination, supported by dedicated Film, Sports, and Meetings commissions.

The core platform is the VisitStPeteClearwater.com website, which integrates hotel booking through a Stay.VisitStPeteClearwater.com subdomain powered by Ripe, live beach webcams at multiple locations, an interactive beach map, weather data from Tomorrow.io, and an event calendar. Distribution is layered across a monthly e-newsletter, the digital and printed Gulf to Bay destination magazine (published with Miles Partnership), the FunShine Savings Passport (a no-app mobile discount program covering nearly 100 local merchants), multilingual localized sites in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, a podcast, local influencer itineraries, social media, cooperative partner advertising, and travel trade partnerships with airlines, airports, Visit Florida, Visit The USA, and Tripadvisor. Sports marketing partnerships with the Tampa Bay Rays, Buccaneers, and Lightning extend reach.

The business model is primarily tax-funded through the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council using tourist development tax receipts, with secondary revenue from cooperative partner advertising programs (annual partner subscriptions), Elite Event Funding to attract events, and trade marketing co-investments. Visitor-facing services are free. The organization runs lean with 11-50 employees and relies on partner agencies (Ripe for booking, Miles Partnership for publishing, Research Data Services for visitor research) rather than building all technology in-house.

Name

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater

Legal name

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater

Website

https://visitstpeteclearwater.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater is the Official Tourism Marketing Organization for Pinellas County, Florida, operating as a government department that promotes 35 miles of Gulf Coast beaches across 24 communities to leisure travelers, meeting planners, sports organizers, and film productions via website, booking integration, and partner programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Largo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Tourist Development Council (TDC) Funding: Government-funded tourism marketing organization under Pinellas County Government, funded through tourist development taxes
2. Cooperative Marketing & Advertising: Partner co-op advertising programs allowing tourism-related businesses to advertise alongside VisitSPC content
3. Elite Event Funding Program: Funding program to grow and attract visitors to events in the destination

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater operates the official destination marketing platform for Pinellas County, Florida, promoting 35 miles of Gulf Coast beaches and 24 communities to leisure travelers through the VisitStPeteClearwater.com website, integrated hotel booking, mobile discount passport, and destination magazine. The organization also runs dedicated Film, Sports, and Meetings divisions that provide location sourcing, event funding, venue RFP support, and co-op advertising programs for tourism partners, all funded through tourist development taxes and partner revenue.

Product overview

Visit St. Pete-Clearwater is the Official Tourism Marketing Organization for Pinellas County, Florida, operating the destination marketing website VisitStPeteClearwater.com. The organization's primary offering is a comprehensive tourism marketing platform that promotes Florida's Gulf Coast beaches and communities. The platform consists of the main destination website featuring travel planning tools, accommodation booking integration, event listings, and visitor information, supplemented by the FunShine Savings Passport (a mobile-exclusive discount program offering nearly 100 deals across restaurants, museums, hotels, attractions, tours, and retail), the Gulf to Bay destination magazine (available in digital and printed formats), and specialized divisions including the Film Commission, Sports Commission, and Meetings divisions that serve different visitor segments. The website provides multilingual support in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese, and features live webcams, interactive maps, and accessibility guides.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VisitStPeteClearwater.com Destination Website The official destination marketing website for Pinellas County, providing trip-planning tools, interactive beach maps, live webcams, itineraries, events calendar, accommodations directory, and accessibility guides in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Intended for leisure travelers planning a Florida Gulf Coast beach vacation.
• Stay.VisitStPeteClearwater.com Hotel Booking Service Integrated hotel booking solution powered by Ripe that provides visitors with access to lowest published rates online across partner hotels, vacation rentals, and resorts. Available to leisure travelers on the official VisitSPC website at no additional cost.
• FunShine Savings Passport Mobile-exclusive digital savings passport offering nearly 100 exclusive deals and discounts from local attractions, restaurants, museums, hotels, tours, and shops in the St. Pete-Clearwater area. Delivered via text and email with no app download required. Targets leisure travelers seeking on-trip savings.
• Gulf to Bay Destination Magazine Free digital and printed destination magazine featuring beaches, restaurants, hotels, events, and vacation inspiration for the St. Pete-Clearwater destination. Available for download or by mail request to potential visitors.
• Film Commission Services Film Commission providing free location sourcing, crew referrals, and permitting support for film, TV, commercial, brand photoshoot, and digital media productions in Pinellas County. Includes no film permit fees and a screen industry incentive program to attract productions.
• Meetings and Conventions RFP Support Request-for-Proposal (RFP) based meetings and conventions support service sourcing beachfront resorts and downtown venues for corporate, association, and event planners. Provides complimentary planning services for meetings, conferences, and incentive events in Pinellas County.
• Elite Event Funding Program Funding program that disburses financial support to event organizers to grow and attract visitors to qualifying events held in the St. Pete-Clearwater destination, expanding the destination's event calendar and overall tourism impact.
• Partner Co-op Advertising Program Annual subscription-based cooperative advertising program enabling tourism-related businesses (hotels, attractions, restaurants, retail, tours) to advertise alongside VisitSPC digital content reaching visitors in the destination funnel, with program renewal on an annual cadence.

Quantifiable outcome

• Clearwater Beach ranked #2 in U.S. and #1 in Florida by Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2026
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RipecoreTechnology or IntegrationVisitSPC Booking Service partnership providing Stay.VisitStPeteClearwater.com booking solution at no additional cost to partners. Facilitates hotel reservations and vacation deals through the VisitSPC platform.
• Research Data Services, Inc.coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerContracted research firm for conversion study information resulting from visitor guide requests. Conducts visitor research and data analysis for VisitSPC.
• Miles PartnershipcoreTechnology or IntegrationDigital magazine publishing partner hosting the Gulf to Bay destination magazine in digital format at digital.milespartnership.com
• Tampa Bay RayscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial Beaches partner for the MLB team. The 2026 MLB season marks Tampa Bay Rays' return to Tropicana Field, newly renovated.
• Tampa Bay BuccaneerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial beach partner for the NFL team based in Tampa, promoting beach destinations to football fans.
• Tampa Bay LightningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial beach partner for the NHL team, promoting the destination to hockey fans and sports enthusiasts.
• FunShine Savings Passport PartnerscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerOver 50 local businesses offering deals and discounts through the FunShine Savings Passport program including attractions, restaurants, hotels, tours and shops.
• Visit FloridacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerState tourism marketing partnership promoting Florida destinations including St. Pete-Clearwater as part of Visit Florida marketing initiatives.
• Visit The USAcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerInternational tourism marketing partnership promoting U.S. destinations to international travelers.
• Destinations InternationalminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProfessional association for destination marketing organizations, providing industry resources and best practices.
• TripadvisorcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPlatform partnership with Tripadvisor for beach recognition and destination promotion through Travelers' Choice Awards.
• Pinellas County GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent government organization. Visit St. Pete-Clearwater is a department of Pinellas County Government and serves as the Official Tourism Marketing Organization for the county.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Visit Florida: The State of Florida's official tourism marketing corporation, a direct partner and umbrella DMO for VSPC. Comparable function at state scale — destination promotion, co-op partner programs, international market development — and a direct collaborator on many VSPC campaigns.
• NYC & Company: New York City's official destination marketing organization. A larger-scale U.S. city DMO operating the same tourism marketing, meetings/film commission, and partner co-op program model with comparable multilingual and international tourism mandate.
• Visit Orlando: Orange County's DMO and one of the largest U.S. destination marketing organizations, also funded by tourist development tax. Competes directly with VSPC for Florida leisure visitors, meetings, and sports tourism while operating a comparable co-op partner, content, and meetings division structure.
• Choose Chicago: Chicago's convention and tourism bureau, a comparable mid-to-large U.S. city DMO. Operates the same meetings/leisure/film/sports vertical structure, partner co-op programs, and content marketing platform as VSPC, with similar conventions industry awards and recognition profile.
• Visit San Diego: San Diego's DMO, also a coastal/beach destination with strong meetings, sports, and cruise-tourism positioning. Closely comparable U.S. beachfront destination DMO with similar mission, funding model via TMD/TBID assessments, and partner program structure.
• Visit Denver: Denver's convention and visitors bureau, a comparable mid-market U.S. city DMO with the same conventions/meetings industry award footprint (e.g., Smart Meetings, ConventionSouth) and similar partner co-op advertising programs.
• Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board: LA's official DMO operating the same mission, funding model (TOT assessments), and structure (Film Commission, Sports, Meetings divisions) as VSPC. Comparable scale and vertical breadth, with similarly multilingual international marketing requirements.
• Visit Tampa Bay: Hillsborough County's official destination marketing organization covering neighboring Tampa and the broader Tampa Bay region. Operates the same DMO model — TDC-funded tourism marketing promoting beaches, attractions, and meetings — making it the closest geographic peer and direct substitute for VSPC's leisure and meetings visitor base.
• Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau: Miami-Dade County's destination marketing organization, promoting a coastal Florida beach destination with strong international (particularly Latin American) visitor mix. Closely comparable in coastal positioning, multilingual marketing needs, and the same Florida competitive set.

Broad incumbents

• Brand USA: The United States' national destination marketing organization, operating at a much broader (national) level and a direct partner of VSPC through international marketing programs. Functions as an upstream amplifier of state and city DMO efforts rather than a direct competitor for visitor share.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/VisitStPeteClearwater
• Instagraminstagram.com/filmstpeteclearwater
• Xx.com/visitspc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/visitspc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Visit St. Pete-Clearwater