Tourism is our most powerful economic engine and development tool.

Polk County is where the world comes to play. That’s not just a few words for a catchy slogan. Here are a few examples.

Recently on perfectly groomed Chris Bellotto Field at Florida Southern College, the 2020 Women’s National Team prepared for their “Stand Beside Her” tour, a pre-Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games exhibition and training schedule. The crowd that turned out to watch the practice were treated to an impromptu home run derby. After the practice, players signed everything from bats and gloves to towels and sweatbands for the crowd eager to get within arm’s length of their heroes.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, the fields at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale teemed with players as part of the Florida State Soccer Association Florida Classic while at the same time and location all eyes were focused on legendary soccer player Thierry Henry – now the manager of the Montreal Impact. The Major League Soccer Impact, who compete at the highest level of soccer in North America, were preparing on our fields for the 2020 season. Meanwhile, other fields were packed with players from as far away as the United Kingdom to as nearby as the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

It was a downright cold November evening when women from Argentina and Mexico took the field in Auburndale for the first international game using the proposed World Lacrosse six-on-six rules. The game was part of the Pan-American Lacrosse Association’s 2019 Women’s Lacrosse World Qualifier. Other teams hailed from Colombia, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Jamaica, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The tournament was the only way for teams from this part of the world to make it to the World Lacrosse games, which have provisional recognition from the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport.

And let’s not forget that our Midwestern Boys of Summer, the Detroit Tigers, began spring training. Lakeland has been the pring training home of the Tigers for more than 80 years. Lakeland in particular and Polk County in general have enjoyed a near sister city status for so long that Coney Island Dogs can be found on the menu at more than a few establishments. Pasties? Well, we’re working on those.

We haven’t accomplished any of this on our own.

Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing is blessed to have tremendous partners including private sector businesses, municipalities, sports organizations to compliment our efforts to market Polk County as a world-class sports destination.

The impact of sports in Polk County is never more evident than when the RussMatt Collegiate Baseball Invitational is in town. This year it will bring more than 270 collegiate baseball teams, their families and fans into Polk County. Those visitors are fuel to our economy, filling our hotels and vacation rental homes, eating at our restaurants and shopping at our stores. In total, this one six week event generates more than 30,000 room nights and a $27 million economic impact. Visitors translate into more than just dollars – they mean jobs for Polk County residents.

Now imagine those visitors augmented by events featuring overseas athletes in what are our more traditionally slow times. Not only will they play on our fields and stay in our hotels, but they will be exposed to the world class county we have become.

Did you realize that we have three of the top 10 best public courses in the United States at Streamsong Resort? Or that we will soon be home to the only pirate LEGO-themed hotel in the world at LEGOLAND Florida Resort? Or that Bok Tower Gardens, besides having one of the best regarded carillons in the world, is also home to one of the most respected botanical gardens in the nation? By exposing overseas organizers to all that Polk County has to offer, we expand the playing field.

According to ongoing destination analysis by Tallahassee-based research firm Downs & St. Germain, tourism generates more than $2.4 billion in economic impact for the county, while accounting for 21,814 jobs and $479.9 million in wages annually. Polk County, and its municipalities, receives $29.3 million from state tax revenue sharing just from tourists’ spending here.

It is also important to remember that tourism is an “export” that imports “new money” to the area, which in turn creates new wealth and jobs. It is our most powerful economic engine and development tool.

PCTSM’s mission remains to “put heads in beds and make cash registers ring.” Visitors may come to Polk County to play, but the real winners are the residents and businesses.

When a community like Polk embraces and supports the area’s largest industry, we all reap benefits more than just money and jobs, but a higher quality of life as well.

Mark Jackson is executive director of Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing.