Hillsborough County Hotel & Lodging Association

Client: Hillsborough County Hotel & Lodging Association
Industry: Hospitality

The Hillsborough County Hotel & Lodging Association has represented Tampa Bay’s lodging industry since 1937. Its membership includes the county’s leading hotels along with a broad network of allied businesses that serve in the hospitality sector.

HCHLA is also a Florida pioneer. In 2020, it established the state’s first Tourism Marketing District, a hotel-led model for funding destination marketing that other Florida markets now study.

Challenge:

Tampa Bay is one of the strongest hotel markets in the country. Occupancy is high, new hotels are under construction, and national investors continue to place confident bets on the destination.

Strength of this kind draws attention. In recent sessions, the Florida Legislature weighed proposals that would have redirected Tourist Development Tax revenue away from destination marketing. One bill would have dissolved tourist development councils statewide. Another would have stripped funding from the state’s own tourism marketing organization. None of these measures passed in their strongest form, but the message was hard to miss. The funding tools that power Florida tourism will remain under debate in Tallahassee for years to come.

HCHLA’s board read the moment clearly. An association that speaks for an entire industry needs more than goodwill and strong relationships. It needs a documented strategy, a sharper public story, and a way to show its members measurable progress.

Solution:

HCP Associates conducted a comprehensive organizational assessment and strategic planning process for HCHLA. The work included a review of organizational records and governance documents, interviews with stakeholders, general managers, board members and strategic partners, and a survey of HCHLA members. HCP Associates also reviewed lodging association representation across all 67 Florida counties to benchmark HCHLA’s structure, role and opportunities against similar organizations statewide as well as facilitated a full-day strategic planning workshop in December 2025. The workshop helped association leadership turn the research findings into priorities, responsibilities, and measurable targets.

 

HCP Associates then designed a Strategic KPI Scorecard that connects each strategic priority to defined performance measures. The scorecard includes 45 KPIs, each with an assigned owner, target and reporting schedule. A companion governance framework defines who is responsible for updating each measure and when updates are required. The board now reviews progress against the plan during its regular meetings.

HCP also delivered the operating documents needed to put the plan to work, including position descriptions, a budget package, and a legislator engagement tracker that supports the association’s advocacy in Tallahassee.

 

The HCHLA board adopted the strategic plan in February 2026 and presented it to the full membership during its February luncheon. By June 2026, all 45 KPIs had assigned owners and Year 1 targets, moving the plan from a planning document into an active management tool.

HCP Associates also developed the ‘We Built That’ narrative to position hotels as employers, economic contributors and community builders. HCHLA and Visit Tampa Bay published a joint statement defining their collaboration while affirming HCHLA’s independent voice on behalf of the lodging industry.