Despite knockdown punch, tourism agency finds ways to innovate

Florida’s tourism-dependent economy has been ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis. According to a study from WalletHub, the state has taken the sixth hardest hit from the pandemic and subsequent social-distancing measures that shut down much of the U.S. economy. Only Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Vermont and Massachusetts have suffered more. 

And although the Tampa Bay area doesn’t have a single attraction on the scale of Disney World, which furloughed an additional 43,000 workers April 11, the region as a whole has seen its record-setting run of tourism revenues collapse.