Destination: Tampa Bay

Beginning Sept. 25, a Lufthansa Airbus A340 will touch down at Tampa International Airport on the west coast of Florida. Lufthansa, creating a direct connection to Tampa Bay four times a week (five in the summer).

Lufthansa joins a growing number of international flights to Tampa Bay: Air Canada flies three times a day from Toronto; British Airways flies from Gatwick Airport seven times a week; COPA Airlines links Tampa Bay with Central and South America through its hub in Panama City for times a week; and Edelweiss Air connects Tampa Bay with Central Europe through Zurich, Switzerland, three times a week.

Domestically, Tampa has daily direct flights from 50 U.S. cities each day, including new service from Seattle, on Alaska Air, and from Dallas on Southwest Airlines.

For driving trips, Tampa Bay sits where Interstate 75 meets Interstate 4, within reach of 155 million people in 23 states. The Amtrak's Silver Star stops in Tampa Bay on runs between New York and Miami.

Tampa Bay is also a seasonal port of call for Germany's AIDAvita and AMADEA cruise ships and the home port for Carnival Cruises, Norwegian America, Royal Caribbean and Holland America cruise lines.

Florida's only destination with CityPASS

For nearly half the normal cost of a ticket, CityPASS grants visitors access to some of the region's most popular attractions. They can fly like a falcon at Busch Gardens Tampa, dive with the sharks at The Florida Aquarium and come face to face with a manatee at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, named the best zoo in the United States by Parents magazine.

CityPASS costs $99 for adults, $84 for children 3-9 years of age -- a 49% saving.

Hotels for every type of traveler

Three NEW boutique hotels echo Tampa Bay's love for the modern, the historic and the delicious. Aloft Tampa Downtown turned a former office building into an exciting modern hotel overlooking the Tampa Riverwalk. Restoring Tampa Bay's Beaux Arts-style courthouse earned Le Méridien Tampa recognition from Condé Nast Traveler and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Epicurean Hotel was built for food lovers in mind, with a kitchen theater and The Edge rooftop bar, Tampa Bay's chic hang-out.

Acres of Africa in Florida

Busch Gardens Tampa offers 300 acres (121 hectares) of treasures to discover. An expansive wildlife park is home to zebras, gazelles, ostriches, and other African wildlife. Riders brave enough to board the NEW Falcon's Fury, a 335-foot-tall (102 meters) drop tower, plummet face-down like the ride's namesake. After the heart-pounding fun, quality dining and entertaining shows help visitors bring their pulse rates back to normal.

More than a century of Cuban culture

Ybor City made Tampa Bay the Cigar Capital of the World for more than 50 years. Descendants of Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and German immigrants still make cigars by hand and smoke them while drinking café con leche before heading to a concert or dance club. The 110-year-old Columbia Restaurant is the oldest Spanish restaurant in Florida and an Ybor City icon, serving traditional Cuban and Spanish food, including paella while Flamenco dancers perform. A park honors Cuban revolutionary José Martí.

Tampa Bay loves its beer

Florida's first commercial brewery opened in Tampa Bay more than a century ago. Today, Tampa Bay is a hub for craft brewing. More than a dozen small brewers – companies with names like Angry Chair and Coppertail – produce award-winning, drafts that draw on local tastes and history. Cigar City Brewing Co., named one of the best craft brewers in the world by RateBeer.com, infuses beer with Cuban espresso. Cigar City Brewing, which was rated by USAToday as the region's best brewery has now taken craft brewing in a new direction by making cider and mead at its Ybor City brewery.

The flavors of Florida

Diverse NEW offerings put Tampa Bay at the top of any foodie list. Ulele takes inspiration from the foods Florida's natives thrived on for millennia. The menu includes oysters, locally grown beef and Ulele's own homemade beer. Oxford Exchange transformed a century-old stable into an eclectic destination popular with breakfast and lunch crowds. Edison's Food + Drink Lab blends technology and taste buds, crafting meals with unusual ingredients – like liquid nitrogen.

Traditional lives at Bern's Steak House, where the name says it all. The world's largest private wine cellar and decadent dessert room mean that Bern's may be traditional, but it's not ordinary.

Between the sky and the sea

The NEW Tampa Riverwalk hugs the waterfront for 2.5 miles (4 km) and links downtown's most popular destinations. Bayshore Boulevard runs for 4.5 miles (7.25 km), giving you a front-row seat to watch pelicans dive for dinner and dolphin fins break the water's surface. Visitors can rent paddleboards, kayaks and water bikes to view Tampa Bay's skyline from the sparkling bay. Inland, visitors can canoe and kayak their way among moss-draped cypress trees and migratory birds on the Hillsborough River.

Avast! There be pirates here

Each January, the scurvy crew of legendary pirate José Gasparilla invades Tampa Bay with cannons blazing. Then they lead the third-largest parade in the U.S. down Bayshore Boulevard. The party marks the start Gasparilla Season – eight weeks of parades, festivals (music, art, and interactive), and sporting events (running and cycling).