Lakewood Ranch area future of tourism growth in Manatee County?

Elliott Falcione is confident in the ability of Premier Sports Campus and other East County venues to bring more tourism into Manatee County, which would then drive visitors to fill hotel beds, frequent local businesses and provide consistent work for residents.

In fact, Premier and other East County venues are becoming even more important for the county’s tourism base.

“Where’s the future for your tourism in Manatee County? It’s the urban core redevelopment and the evolution of east Manatee County,” said Falcione, the executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, a department of Manatee County. “That’s our future. We have to focus on those two things.”

Roughly 3.17 million tourists annually can be exposed to the area’s sandy white beaches, as well as to sports, agritourism and other

destinations. Unincorporated Manatee County, which includes parts of west Bradenton, Parrish, Duette, Myakka and the greater Lakewood Ranch area, is the destination for about 37% of short-term stays.

Falcione said East County businesses — such as Mixon Fruit Farms, Dakin Dairy Farms, Rosa Fiorelli Winery and TreeUmph! Adventure Course — provide destinations for tourists looking for those types of adventures but also alternatives to the beach.

“We want to send people out east and have [it where] they can spend all day out there,” Falcione said. “Our job is to put a diverse brand in the marketplace that allows us to sustain year-round visits in Manatee County. If you can sustain it, then the hospitality industry can maintain its employee base and grow.”

The Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes such destinations through a variety of marketing efforts, including destination guides, and also contributes to projects boosting them as destinations. For example, in April, the county approved $50,000 in tourist tax dollars to help the Myakka City Historical Society finish renovations at the Myakka Schoolhouse Museum.

Manatee County used $3.2 million in tourism dollars to help fund the initial $5.2 million acquisition of the 126.9-acre Premier Sports Campus and the 36 adjacent acres in December 2017. The rest was paid for by park impact fees. (Not all of the project was eligible for use of tourism tax dollars.)

Currently, the Convention and Visitors Bureau is proposing Manatee County invest $8.5 million on improvements at Premier for expanded and improved parking, a multipurpose building and stadium improvements. It envisioned only $800,000 in improvements when Manatee County first bought the property.

The CVB is also planning to spend another $15.3 million on an expansion of the Bradenton Area Convention Center. Improvements would include remodeling, a new building and an air-conditioned connection to the future privately owned Sheraton hotel to be constructed on an adjacent property.

Falcione said the hotel-convention center component fills the final gap in Manatee’s tourism “tool belt” by offering a place for large business conventions and expos, while the improvements at Premier will sustain existing customers, such as the annual Nike International Friendlies soccer tournament. The changes at Premier would also allow the CVB to go after collegiate-level events. Colleges require locker rooms and other amenities from their venues, he said.

The CVB suggests Manatee County take out a loan to fund the collective $23.8 million project and then pay it back with tourism dollars over time. Falcione said depending on the debt service, there could still be money leftover each year to use for new tourism-related projects.

Manatee County District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said she believes the improvements will be good for bringing new events to Premier, sustaining existing customers there and even creating business for local restaurants and hotels. However, she is unsure about financing.

“There’s no long-term impact to tax payers if stays status quo, but what if there’s red tide again, and tourism is down?” she said. “It’s something you can’t automatically say the bed tax is going to pay for it.”

Baugh said she simply needs more information about the options.

Commissioners discussed the proposal in August, and Falcione said they might consider it again for a vote in December.

Falcione said sports tourism brings in an estimated 13-14% of all tourism in Manatee County.