David Downing remembers visiting the geodesic dome of the Aquatarium amusement park on the beach, lasers lighting up the night sky over the St. Petersburg Pier, and mermaid shows at the old Webb’s City department store.
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Those memories are why he left the New York travel publishing scene in 2007 and returned home to join Pinellas County’s tourism promotion operation.
“I remember a lot of what this destination used to be,” Downing said. “I see ghosts of it every day. It’s in my blood.”
Now it’s his responsibility: Downing was appointed Wednesday as the new executive director of the county tourism marketing agency Visit St. Pete/Clearwater.
VSPC’s former director, D.T. Minich, was lured away in July by Osceola County’s tourism arm. The deputy director, Downing, was appointed interim head of VSPC in August while the county conducted a national search for Pinellas County’s new tourism leader.
Downing and Visit Florida vice president of global brand Susannah Costello were the finalists. Both gave strong performances in their interviews on Friday, according to search committee members.
The final decision fell to Downing’s boss, Pinellas County Administrator Mark Woodard.
Woodard said that Downing’s nearly eight years promoting Pinellas tourism, his deep knowledge of the destination and his recent turn as interim director all helped earn him the permanent job.
“He rose to the occasion during that five-month period and demonstrated that he was able to move into the No. 1 slot,” Woodard said. “He certainly has a breadth of knowledge of the destination from his last 7 ½ years working here.
“He’s also a Pinellas County boy. He spent part of his early life in St. Petersburg, so he brings that intimate knowledge of the destination.”
Downing helped guide the recovery of Pinellas’ tourism from the twin disasters of the recession and 2010 BP oil spill, when visitors were scared away from the beaches even though no oil slicks reached Pinellas’ shores.
He also played a role in transforming the county into an entirely new kind of tourist destination. No longer are the beaches considered just a warm respite for vacationing retirees. They’re still hitting the beaches, but in recent years they’ve been joined by a younger and more diverse crowd that has started visiting Pinellas year-round.
Three straight years of record tourist tax collections show the tourism industry’s growing strength. In fiscal 2014, Pinellas set a new tourist tax record and broke the $35 million barrier for the first time in county history.
The bed tax, the 5 percent surcharge on short-term accommodations, is considered a reliable barometer of tourism strength because it measures the number of overnight visitors.
“The brand, the destination is in such a great place right now, and I’ve been with it through thick and thin,” Downing said. “I was here at the height of the oil spill crisis. I was also here at the height of the economic crisis. And I was also here the last two years, when we broke every tourism record you can imagine.
“I believe there’s a history there that counts for something, and I believe that history was honored by this decision.”
Downing, 48, was born in Boston but raised in St. Petersburg. He graduated from Lakewood High School, got his bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville University and his master’s from the University of North Carolina. He also studied at Oxford University in England.
He spent 14 years in New York, working for Fodor’s/Random House first and then at Zagat Survey before deciding to return to Pinellas to market his home. He started out as VSPC’s director of public relations and was elevated to deputy director in 2009.
Woodard negotiated a $185,000 annual salary with Downing, more than the $164,444 that Minich made. Compensation become an issue after Minich was lured away with a package of salary, benefits and incentives worth more than $200,000. Woodard said he’s also working on a bonus program to reward VSPC’s staff if they meet targets.
“I grew up here, this is more than professional for me,” Downing said. “It’s personal to be able to bring my abilities to bear on something so important to me and something I have such history with.
“It’s hard to think of it as a job sometimes.”
Contact Jamal Thalji at thalji@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3404. Follow @jthalji.
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