Complementing, Not Competing: How Visit Tampa Bay Proved the Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass Can Thrive Beside CityPASS – and Deliver Big Wins for Local Businesses

Visit Tampa Bay is proof that you can have it all. While CityPASS has created a ticket that promotes some of the region’s larger attractions such as Busch Gardens(R) Tampa Bay, it doesn’t capture the full depth of experiences available in the city. The DMO took a close look at its assets, recognized an opportunity, and built a plan that supports more local businesses – while offering visitors even more ways to explore Tampa.

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Goal

Patrick Harrison, Visit Tampa Bay’s Chief Marketing Officer, shared that his initial goal for working with Bandwango was simple: “We were looking to help some of our smaller attractions and boost tourism spend downtown and during large conventions.” 

Although CityPASS had launched a successful bundled ticket in the area, there was still an opportunity to help more local businesses that weren’t included – particularly in the downtown Riverwalk area. 

Janette Carter, Vice President of Marketing, added, “When CityPASS came into the market, we had a couple of attractions along the Riverwalk that asked, ‘Why can't we be included?’” 

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Solution

The Visit Tampa Bay team thought there was room for another paid attractions pass in their market (and spoiler alert – they were right!) 

“They're two different audiences,” said Carter. “If you want to go to Busch Gardens, you buy the CityPASS, but the Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass is very different.” Harrison added, “The price difference between the two is not even close. There's about a $70 price difference between the two – and there's space for both.”

The Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass was designed to drive traffic to some of Tampa’s smaller attractions – particularly those in the downtown Riverwalk district. Harrison said, “We're trying to push the whole idea of a walkable downtown.” Tampa is blessed with many interesting attractions that are located within a two-mile radius, and they’re using the pass to capitalize on that asset. 

The pass includes fun attractions such as The Florida Aquarium, Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa Museum of Art, Glazer Children’s Museum, Henry B. Plant Museum, and American Victory Ship. Carter highlighted another unique inclusion on the pass: “The Riverwalk Pass also includes our Pirate water taxi, which I think is nice because it provides transportation between attractions. And that’s typically something CityPASS wouldn't incorporate.“

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Marketing the Tampa Riverwalk Pass

Ongoing marketing has been vital to the pass’ success. Visit Tampa Bay runs an evergreen digital campaign targeting visitors who have already booked a stay in the destination. By using data to identify these visitors, the team ensures the right message reaches the right audience.

Since the Tampa Convention Center is located near the Riverwalk, they target those visitors (and anyone staying downtown) with ads promoting the Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass. As Harrison explained, it’s a tool that they can use to try to get a visitor to stay an extra day or two. “We’re encouraging that extra night stay, and we’re encouraging them to bring their family and stay the weekend.”

Visit Tampa Bay also makes the pass easy to find online. A prominent, well-labeled icon on the website directs users to a tickets page that features an array of experiences – including the Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass, CityPASS, and more. But there’s also another page dedicated to the Tampa Riverwalk Attraction Pass as well. Depending on the specific digital campaign they’re running, visitors are sent to the page most relevant to the ad, streamlining the user experience.

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Results

In less than three years, the Tampa Riverwalk Attractions Pass has shown phenomenal results:

• 11,362 passes sold 
• 33,927 visits to local businesses 
• $620,000 in sales 

The pass has proven its value to Visit Tampa Bay’s partners, helping the DMO achieve its goal of supporting smaller (but equally important) attractions in the downtown Riverwalk area. The numbers speak for themselves: the attractions are seeing more visitors, and each time a visitor goes to one of the participating attractions, that attraction makes money. 

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Tips for Success from Visit Tampa Bay

Communicate with your partners about the purpose of the pass. 

Carter said, “We like to share that it’s rising all tides, and is a way to show economic development for the community. I want to ensure that we're all on the same page and that we're working together.”

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Understand your destination’s unique assets and needs. 

“Every destination is different,” Harrison explained. “And everybody will have a different fit, or different things that they have there. I think it's just always good to take a step back and view your destination holistically – and try and find what fits for whatever you may have. There isn't a one-size-fits-all to any of these.” He added, “Bandwango’s done hundreds of these – they probably have a fit or suggestion for every destination.” 

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Use your pass across departments. 

The entire team at Visit Tampa Bay leverages the pass in different ways. It’s promoted to travel trade and meeting attendees, but it’s also used as a tool to help influencers and media explore the destination. Carter shared her thoughts on why the Tampa Riverwalk Pass works so well inter-departmentally: “It's easy. It's easy for convention attendees, for tour operators on our leisure sales side, and easy for our leisure visitors to use.”

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Let Bandwango manage the financial details. 

When creating a paid attractions pass, Bandwango negotiates pricing and handles contracts with local attractions. Harrison shared that this part of the pass-building process made it easy on his team. “We could always remain the good guys, and let Bandwango be the ones who dealt with the nitty-gritty price points on a daily basis.”

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Find ways to repackage your attraction pass. 

Harrison shared one way they’re repackaging their pass with a slightly different brand. “We're going to be hosting the Travelability Summit next year, and I think we're very lucky that our Riverwalk has the Pirate Water Taxi that is easily accessible to people in wheelchairs and with other disabilities.” Because of that, they plan to promote an Accessible Tampa Riverwalk Pass specifically to that audience. 

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Conclusion 

Visit Tampa Bay remains focused on supporting local businesses – especially the smaller attractions that are vital to the downtown Riverwalk’s vibrancy. Harrison emphasized, “They trust us to be able to help push an incremental number of visitors through their front doors to help them either keep the lights on, or grow – especially in times of economic uncertainty and visitation uncertainty like it is now. Isn't that what we as DMOs are here to do?”

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Visit Tampa Bay has found a way to help downtown businesses increase revenue. If this is something you’re interested in exploring for your destination, book a demo with our team to learn more.