A trade marketing collaboration has been signed by Major Travel with Visit Tampa Bay for the next 12 months.
The deal comes ahead of increased flight capacity to the region from November with the start of a service by Virgin Atlantic.
Major Travel will create and share a range of marketing materials for agents to use on their own social media channels, web pages and in shop windows.
There will also be incentives and prizes for bookings and completed training.
The trade-only operator has been working with agents over the last year to promote Tampa Bay not only as a gateway to Florida, but as a destination in its own right.
Passenger numbers booked and the average length of stay in Tampa Bay by Major Travel customers has almost doubled over the same period.
The agreement emerged as Hurricane Ian struck the south-west coast of Florida, leading to flooding, airport closures and a major power outage affecting more than two million homes.
Visit Tampa Bay global sales director Stefanie Zinke said: “Since the borders re-opened, the UK market has seen the fastest recovery in numbers across Tampa Bay’s top five inbound markets.
“We are expecting a major bounce back in 2023 and are forecasted to surpass 2019 numbers in two-digit growth by 2024 and beyond.
“The UK is Tampa Bay’s largest European inbound market. Strategic partnerships like the one we have with Major Travel demonstrate commitment from both sides.
“We have already seen the number of room nights booked through Major Travel grow this year as well as the parallel effort to increase our UK numbers for the Tampa Bay specialist training programme online.”
Major Travel head of product Brina Dando added: “You can already fly direct from the UK to Tampa with British Airways and indirect flights with carriers such as United Airlines are perfect for stop-overs.
“It will soon be even easier to visit the destination with new direct flights with Virgin Atlantic starting from Heathrow in November.
“We want to ensure agents are ready and have all the tools they need to be able to capitalise on the opportunity that the additional flight capacity offers.”