HCP Associates Completes Community Study and Visit St. Pete Clearwater 5 Year Strategic Plan

TAMPA, Fla. (February 17, 2023) – HCP Associates recently completed a strategic plan and community sentiment research for Visit St. Pete Clearwater, the official tourism marketing and management organization for the St. Pete/Clearwater area.

The pandemic in 2020 severely impacted the hospitality and tourism industry. These events led Visit St. Pete/Clearwater to engage HCP Associates to start a strategic planning process to guide the organization in the following year.

HCP Associates’ goal of the strategic plan was to collect data surrounding the state of tourism in Pinellas County to determine how it can be revitalized. Critical to this strategic planning process included HCP Associates conducting first-party research for Visit St. Pete Clearwater. This included an online stakeholder survey, a community sentiment survey, and an industry and visitor market analysis. These various data sources provided important insights from various aspects of Pinellas County tourism.

HCP also developed a series of objectives that would aid the destination marketing organization to shift its primary objectives to both marketing the destination and destination stewardship.  Such responsibilities include community engagement, destination management, business development, and unique marketing campaigns. In identifying these responsibilities, HCP Associates planned different tactics to appeal to niche markets and drive tourism and development in the county over the next few years. Through holding key stakeholder meetings, design planning, monitoring different tourist trends, and more, HCP was able to compile data to be segmented into several key objectives for the organization.

This multifaceted plan generated by HCP Associates helped Visit St. Pete Clearwater clearly establish its tourist market and receive feedback from key stakeholders to increase visitation and enhance the county’s overall attractiveness.