ST. PETE BEACH, Fla — St. Pete Beach, like many other beach communities, depends on the business and foot traffic that spring break brings. After a difficult 2025 season, business owners say the crowds are back.
"Spring break, I will say, started 4 weeks ago. Like, real, like you can tell people are coming more and more and more and more," one business owner said.
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Ken Hautmann, who owns Chill Restaurant with his wife, said the return of tourists has been encouraging.
"It's great to see the tourists back on the beach, you know, they really kind of stayed away from the area last year," Hautmann said.
Still, Hautmann says the recovery isn't complete.
"You can definitely tell that the traffic is here on Gulf Boulevard, but I mean yesterday afternoon I took a drive from here all the way down to Pass-A-Grille, and it was busy, but it still wasn't, to me it wasn't what it used to be," Hautmann said.
Along with more foot traffic, new businesses are also filling spaces left behind. SunDrunk opened just a few months ago, and owner Cat Lepetit says she has already seen a surge in business.
"I feel like this year's spring break is bringing so much hope. I know the hotels are not all back up. I know it's still a little behind, and I'm very hopeful," Leptit said.
Whether it's visitors who have spent every spring break on St. Pete Beach or families making their first trip, the St. Pete Beach spirit appears to be alive and well.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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