Economic impact of tourism stays strong, despite dips in visitor numbers

Even though this past season’s tourism numbers won’t break any records, that doesn’t mean it was a bad year for Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Both counties reported a slight decline in the number of visitors, while the economic impact remained roughly the same from the same time last fiscal year. Some tourism representatives from both counties speculate this could represent a normalization of the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Manatee County’s data represents the time from October through April, while Sarasota County’s data runs from October through March. When comparing year to year, the countries look at this year’s data compared to the same period in the last fiscal year.

At a June 10 meeting of the Manatee Tourist Development Council, Director of Quantitative Research, Research Data Services Anne Wittine presented tourism data to the council.

There was about a 3.3% decline in visitors for Manatee County this year. In total, 625,600 visitors were reported from October 2023 to April 2024, whereas there were 647,200 visitors last year from October 2022 through April 2023.

Despite a slight decrease in visitors, the economic impact from those visitors stayed about the same, with a 0.3% increase from $1,136,917,600 to $1,140,027,800.

According to statistics from Visit Sarasota County, Sarasota County experienced similar trends.

Sarasota County reported a 9% decline in visitors, from 727,100 (October 2022 through March 2023) to 657,180 (October 2023 through March 2024).

This resulted in about a 1.45% decrease in economic impact during those periods, from $1,556,387,100 to $1,533,771,100.

Representatives from the Manatee Tourist Development Council praised the county’s efforts in maintaining visitor numbers given recent economic pressures.

“Flat is good,” said Elliott Falcione, director of the Manatee County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Like (Wittine) said, we’re coming out of extreme, pent-up demand, domestic, so flat is good. … We’re not trying to break records every year, I can promise you that. We want to bring in quality visitors that have the wherewithal that can afford the assets that are in Manatee County.”

The pent-up demand that Falcione referenced was experienced coming out of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019, Manatee County has experienced a 37.5% increase in visitors and a 62.3% increase in economic impact during the period from October through April.

The flattening of tourism numbers began to show last year when the counties reported a dip in the number of tourists in 2023 after a surge in 2021 and 2022.

File photo

In a previous Observer article, it was reported that Visit Sarasota County President and CEO Erin Duggan spoke with county commissioners on July 9 about the changes in tourism data that represent a cooler period.

“We went through a few phenomenal years with the pandemic, when Florida was open and other places around the country and the world were not,” Duggan told commissioners. “We do know, some of that success was just unsustainable.”

Manatee County also experienced an increase in visitors from overseas, an area that The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (BACVB) was attempting to target, said representatives at the June 10 meeting.

From last year to this year, the BACVB reported a 12.3% increase in European visitors.

“We’re finally starting to see that number growing,” Wittine said. “We’re still not quite back to where we were in 2019, but we are starting to see recovery there.”

Manatee County Commissioner and Chair of the Tourist Development Council Ray Turner said the BACVB’s efforts in attracting more overseas visitors helped keep the economic impact strong this year.

“Flat is good in this environment right now,” Turner said. “I think the only reason we’re flat is probably because of your efforts in Europe because that’s a pretty big increase … seeing the numbers run pretty much flat right now is quite extraordinary.”

Key attractions

In fiscal year 2023, Longboat Key represented 8.5% of Manatee County’s tourist development tax. There were about 83,000 commercial lodging visitors on Longboat Key’s Manatee County side, which made up 8% of the county’s entire overnight commercial lodging visitation for the fiscal year, according to data from the BACVB.

Similarly, Longboat Key was responsible for 7.5% of the tourist development tax collected by Sarasota County. That’s $3,750,025 out of the total $49,996,721, according to the FY23 Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax annual report.

Courtesy image

President and CEO of Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce Kim Verreault said, from speaking with local businesses, that the last months of 2023 seemed to be quieter than usual, but it was still a strong season. Verreault also said the Chamber would work on advertising specifically for that time next year to support Longboat’s local businesses.

According to Verreault, the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce utilizes funds from the BACVB every year for in- and out-of-state advertising to draw and retain tourists to the island.

For example, she said the most recent advertisement focused on attracting Florida families with children who may currently be on summer vacation.

When visitors come to Longboat Key and turn to the Chamber for recommendations, Verreault said attractions either on the island or close by are popular for tourists.

Off the island, Longboat Key visitors enjoy amenities like Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, arts and entertainment in Sarasota and St. Armands Circle.

Tourists also frequently ask about kayaking opportunities, boat tours and recommendations for Longboat Key beaches and local parks.

When asked what some of the main attractions to Longboat Key are, Verreault said the natural beauty is up there.

“Definitely the beauty and tranquility of our beaches,” Verreault said. “I think that people who are coming to us are looking for an opportunity to truly relax and unwind. Many are looking to escape colder weather.”

Andrew Warfield contributed to the reporting of this story.