Buying a charter or tour company in Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay has 29 established charter and tour companies by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 72% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Charter and tour companies in Tampa Bay come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $293,000 a year
- Price about
- $894,000
- Your cash
- $125,000
- Could pay you
- up to $132,000 a year
- Earns about
- $585,000 a year
- Price about
- $1.8 million
- Your cash
- $250,000
- Could pay you
- up to $263,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 3.0 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 8 |
| 20 to 29 years | 15 |
| 30 to 39 years | 3 |
| 40 years or more | 3 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 3 |
| $1M to $2M | 2 |
| $2M to $4M | 4 |
| $4M to $8M | 3 |
| Over $8M | 2 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Hillsborough | 10 |
| Polk | 8 |
| Pinellas | 5 |
| Other counties | 6 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Tampa | 7 |
What the best charter and tour companies have in common
- Strong reviews and listings that bring direct bookings without heavy commissions.
- A dock or base with a long lease in a busy visitor area, since good slips and dock space are hard to find.
- Boats or vehicles in good condition, with maintenance logs and inspection records.
- Licensed captains or drivers besides the owner, who come back season after season.
- Repeat business from companies, hotels or cruise passengers that fills slow periods.
- A clean safety record and insurance at a reasonable cost.
- Revenue spread across the year, or costs that shrink in the slow season.
- A booking system that takes deposits and handles weather cancellations clearly, so refunds don't become disputes.
What to check before you buy
- For each boat or vehicle: its age, marine survey or inspection, maintenance logs and what's still owed on it.
- The dock or base lease: term, renewal, and any rules from the marina, city or park.
- Bookings by month for several years, and by source (direct, booking sites, hotels), with the commissions paid.
- Insurance cost and claims, including passenger injuries, and a quote for you as the new owner.
- Captain and driver credentials, drug testing records, and who will stay after the sale.
- Hurricane plans: where the boats or vehicles go, and how many days are lost to weather each year.
- For contract routes, the term, who can cancel, and whether the contract can be assigned to you.
- Permits or agreements to operate in parks, preserves or city waterfronts, and whether they transfer.
Questions to ask the owner
- Who captains or drives each trip, and will they stay?
- How do customers find you, and what do the booking sites charge?
- What were your best and worst months last year?
- How old are the boats or vehicles, and what major repairs are coming up?
- Has anyone been hurt on a trip, and how did you handle it?
- How long is the dock or yard lease, and can it be transferred to me?
- How does hurricane season affect the business?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a charter or tour company in Florida.
Owning a company in Tampa Bay
The local economy
Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.
Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.
What's different about owning a company here
Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.
The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.