Keys to the City

Facts & Fundamentals

According to the most recent census information, Tampa proper has a population of 336,823, and Hillsborough County's population is almost 1.2 million. The Tampa Bay Area, meanwhile, is home to 4 million people.

Tourism, of course, is key to the Tampa economy, with close to 17 million people visiting the Tampa Bay area each year. Top employers include the Hillsborough County School District, Tampa International Airport, Busch Gardens, the Delta and Continental Airlines Reservation Centers and the Marriott Corporation. The Port of Tampa also provides work for several thousand people, both in the pleasure cruise and shipping industry sectors.

For most goods and services, the sales tax is 7%; for hotels, there is a 5% tax, bringing the total taxes charged to 12%.

Weather

Tampa's temperate semi-tropical climate means that winter warmth and summer heat are givens. In the winter, temperatures average in the neighborhood of 63 degrees. Surprisingly, summer temps average in the low 80s. Even though daytime highs often exceed 90, in the late afternoon the Gulf breezes do their thing, resulting in drops of close to 20 degrees. Rainfall in Tampa is common (the area usually sees between 45 and 50 inches per year), and a summer afternoon without a thunderstorm is rare.

Holidays & Business Hours

On federal and state holidays, many offices and businesses close or have truncated hours. Naturally, policies vary, but in general, the following holidays are broadly observed:

Coming & Going

Tampa International Aiport (TIA) has received numerous awards for being one of the world's most user-friendly airports. In fact, it bills itself as "America's Favorite Airport." Close to 19 million use the airport each year, taking full advantage of the opportunities it offers for non-stop travel both domestic (273 flights daily) and abroad (44 flights weekly).

If they're not driving themselves, most travelers opt for taxis to get from TIA to downtown Tampa or the cruise port. Taxis can be found at the Commercial Ground Transportation Quadrants located in all four corners of the Baggage Claim Level, and the flat-rate fee for the ride into town is $22. All major rental car companies are represented at TIA – their counters are across the walkways in both the Red and Blue Baggage Claim Areas. HARTline rapid transit bus is another option, and it can be boarded curbside at the east end of the Red Baggage Claim near Belt #20.

The Port of Tampa, the largest port in the Southeastern United States, stays busy with cruise and industrial vessels all year round, and it's now one of the country's busiest cruise ports.

Many folks traveling to Tampa do so by car since Interstates 75 and 4 make getting to and leaving the area so easy. I-275 goes through the heart of downtown and eventually crosses the Bay via the breathtaking Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge.

If your preferred mode of transportation is rail, AMTRAK also provides daily services to Tampa via Union Station downtown.

Making Your Way

By and large, Tampa is a "make your own way" kind of place, so if you're here for an extended amount of time, you'll probably need to make rental car arrangements.

That's not to say public transportation is completely non-existant. In fact, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) maintains inter-city buses, an Uptown-Downtown trolley system, eight TECO electric streetcars connecting downtown to Ybor City, Channelside, Garrison Seaport and the Florida Aquarium. One-way cash fares are $1.75 for all HART vehicles unless otherwise posted.

Cabs charge up to $2 for the first 1/2 mile of travel and a fraction of that amount for each mile thereafter. Two reliable Tampa cab companies are United (813-251-2424) and Yellow Cab (813-253-0121).

News & Views

The Tampa Bay area publishes two major daily newspapers. In terms of circulation, the largest is the St. Petersburg Times. Major ethnic papers include The Florida Sentinel, an African-American daily, and Centro Tampa, a weekly targeted at Spanish-speaking residents. The weekly La Gaceta, which was founded in 1922 by a Cuban immigrant, is published in English, Italian and Spanish, making it the only trilingual newspaper in the US. For entertainment news and "alternative" coverage on what's happening locally from week to week, there's Creative Loafing.

Quirks & Curiosities

A word of advice about "cabbing it" here: Tampa is a call city, not a flag city. This means that if you want the services of a taxi, call for one because your chances of hailing one are not great.

In the summer especially, thunderstorms occur almost daily, bringing with them an abundance of rainfall and, often, heavy lightning. In fact, lightning is such a part of everyday life in the Bay Area, one of its professional sports teams is even named the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Getting Your Bearings

As carefully as you plan a trip, you can never hope to know Tampa and its environs like the locals do. That's why CVBs are such great resources for information about lodging, dining and local attractions. The Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau (813-223-2752 or 800-448-2672) operates visitor centers at the following locations:

Channelside
615 Channelside Dr, Ste 108-A
Mon-Sat 9:30am-5:30pm, Sun 11am-5pm

Tampa Convention Center
333 S Franklin St
Hours vary

Ybor City
1600 E 8th Ave
813-241-8838 or 877-934-3782
Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun noon-6pm

Plant City
1702 N Park Rd, Plant City
813-754-7045
Daily 9am-4pm

Necessities - Post Offices

It's usually not too difficult to spot a drop box when you're out and about, but if you need to conduct more serious postal business, it's not always that easy. In Tampa, a number of post offices are convenient to travelers and residents. They include:

Downtown
401 S Florida Ave
813-223-4332
Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:30pm

Commerce Station
925 N Florida Ave
813-223-4225
Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:30pm

Ybor City
2000 E 12th Ave
813-238-2423
Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm, Sat 8:30am-noon

West Tampa
1802 N Howard Ave
813-253-3652
Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:30pm, Sat 8:30am-noon

Common Courtesies

Although tipping is generally a personal matter, there are some guidelines that prove helpful to travelers. At restaurants, servers typically get 15% of the bill, although 10% acknowledges basic assistance, and 20% awards exceptional service. It is also common now for some restaurants to charge an automatic gratuity of 18% for groups. You should be aware of this possibility before providing an additional tip. Taxi drivers usually fit into similar guidelines by receiving a tip equivalent to 15% of the tab.

Often, a dollar tip covers many situations. Bartenders are customarily given $1 per cocktail, hotel maids are provided $1-2 for each day of a stay, bellhops get about $1 per bag, and a coat-check clerk typically receives $1 as well. The exception is a concierge, who generally receives $5-10 for standard service (additional assistance suggests more).