Checking in: Sarasota's visitor numbers are still rising

Since 2011, Sarasota County’s hotel visitor numbers have climbed, and more hotels are coming to the county. Is there a point where there will be too many?

By Cassidy Alexander
| 3:25 p.m. August 22, 2017

The Art Ovation Hotel an Autograph Collection by Marriott, on the corner of Palm and Cocoanut avenues, is one of many new hotels under construction in Downtown Sarasota.

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It’s not a new story: Tourists love coming to Sarasota, and the numbers prove it. Every month, Visit Sarasota releases tourism numbers and almost every month, they top the same month of the previous year.

It’s a trend that’s been going on since 2011.

In June alone, there was an 8% increase in visitors staying in hotel rooms in the county over June 2016. However, the average annual increase per month is starting to hover more around 1% or 2%. Those tourism numbers don’t capture visitors who stay in private homes and don’t pay room-related tourist taxes.

Each year that Visit Sarasota reports an increase in visitors, the question of a tourism ceiling arises: Will there ever officially be too many tourists?

An update on the Siesta-area hotels currently in planning

Siesta Promenade

The 130-room hotel planned as part of a mixed-use project at Stickney Point Road and U.S. 41 is in limbo. Benderson Development is seeking to increase the density allowed on the property to get the number of rooms the company seeks. Going through the process of getting an exception for the density requirement could take the developer until December or later.

Hotel on Siesta Key

Gary Kompothecras wants to build a hotel on Siesta Key. He and his attorney are talking with the county to clarify regulations on height and setback from the road. Until those points are clarified, Kompothecras has no plan for the hotel, but his attorney said it will be a “well-designed, compatible, boutique hotel.”

Hampton Inn on South Tamiami Trail

This hotel is early in the planning stages, but the developer, Peachtree Hotel Group, has tentatively planned for it to carry the Hampton Inn flag. The developer met with the Development Review Committee Aug. 17 to learn about the next steps, and learned it will face the same density requirement in question with the Siesta Promenade plans. Peachtree Group was hoping for 100 rooms, but with the plot of land it owns on South Tamiami Trail, county ordinances allow about 60. It’s now up to the developer to decide if that’s enough, if more land is needed or if it wants to seek an exception.

Visit Sarasota County President Virginia Haley isn’t too worried.

“I don’t think you do get to that point, because what we do is we smartly manage our messaging and who we target to come here,” Haley said.

For example, some tourists are right for the nation’s No. 1-ranked beach on Siesta Key, while others are a better fit for “elegant, refined Longboat Key,” Haley said. Some tourists are better for the shark’s tooth capital of the world in Venice, and others would come to Sarasota only for the World Rowing Championship, which is in September.

And with more than 1,000 new hotel rooms coming to downtown Sarasota by 2018, Haley said her staff is focusing on attracting people to host more small meetings or sporting events in the county to fill those rooms.

Haley said although it’s unlikely, if the county ever did get to a point where there were too many visitors, ending advertisements would not be a solution. Visit Sarasota operates with a roughly $7 million promotional budget.

“There are some communities that made decisions to stop marketing … and it did not work out well,” Haley said. “Because you still have the same number of people coming, they don’t go away. But when you stop marketing, other places take your good customers.”

Essentially, Visit Sarasota’s job isn’t about attracting people here — it’s about attracting the types of people here that the county would most benefit from.

Again, the question of having too many people coming to the county has been raised with regard to the Siesta Key area. With three new hotels proposed — at the Siesta Promenade, on Siesta Key itself and on Tamiami Trail near the south bridge — that would bring more than 200 hotel rooms to the area if they’re built. Residents are concerned about the number of people it will draw to the often-congested area.

Lourdes Ramirez, a resident and former County Commission candidate, said the best thing to do is drive traffic to the area off-season. She doesn’t think new hotels are the answer, and is concerned about ultimately driving people away from the Siesta Key area that could develop a reputation for having terrible traffic.

“It’s actually gotten to the point where some businesses are hurting — people who want to shop there are avoiding the area,” she said. “We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot.”

But Haley said it’s hard to tell if those hotels, or the seven new hotels that are already in the building phases downtown, will draw new attention, or existing tourists will simply shift their attention toward those hotels.

Mason Tush, owner of CB Saltwater Outfitter’s on Siesta Key, said while congestion is always a concern, more tourists are good for business.

“Added hotels and added tourism to this town will help a lot of tourism-driven businesses,” he said.

Despite the uncertainty, one thing is for sure — Visit Sarasota will have a say in helping new hotels be successful.

“In order to be successful, we are going to have to create new demand to fill all those rooms,” Haley said.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story included two graphs that incorrectly identified tourism tax revenue. Those graphs have since been removed.