The sand dollars continue to pour in.
Consultant Anne Wittine and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport COO Mark Stuckey shared statistics related to Manatee County’s tourism boom at an April 18 tourist development council meeting at the county administration building in Bradenton.
Wittine, director of quantitative research at Research Data Services, said almost all February 2022 tourism metrics surpassed benchmark data points from February 2020, which had been a record-setting month.
Total visitors increased 6.3% from 2020 and length of stay increased 12.5%, a trend related to growing numbers of tourists from outside the state.
The county experienced a more than $200 million economic impact from tourism in February, a record-breaking achievement.
While occupancy decreased about 2% from 2020, rental properties commanded higher-than-ever fees.
“This has never happened before in the entire time that I have looked at tourism information from the Bradenton, Anna Maria, Longboat Key area — we had properties with average daily rates over $500 for January and February,” Wittine said.
The data described a changing mixture of visitors to the area.
Tourists from within the state decreased 30.9% from 2021 — still a 20.4% increase from 2020 — while out-of-state visitors more than made up the difference.
Tourism from the Midwest increased 36.7% from 2021, while visitation from the Southeast and Northeast increased 35%.
Wittine showed the council a graph indicating airline passenger volume internationally and within the United States was still below pre-pandemic levels, meaning the county likely would see unprecedented levels of tourism continue to rise in coming years.
Comparatively lower passenger volume has not been a problem for Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, which broke a passenger record in March, when about 443,000 people traveled through the facility.
More than 1 million passengers have passed through the gates since Jan. 1, about a 90% increase from January-March 2021, Stuckey said.
According to Wittine, SRQ’s passenger volume growth in March outpaced rivals St. Pete-Clearwater International and Punta Gorda airports, the only Florida airports with numbers available for comparison at the time of the meeting.
In March, St. Pete-Clearwater and Punta Gorda airports experienced passenger volume increases of 9% and 13%, respectively, over 2019 levels, while SRQ saw a 124% increase.
The airport has grown dramatically since 2018, when it serviced six airlines and offered 12 nonstop destinations.
Today, SRQ accommodates 11 airlines and boasts 53 nonstop destinations.
The growth is permanent, Stuckey said, thanks to long-term signatory lease agreements with six airlines that produce most of the airport’s traffic.
He outlined numerous construction projects the airport expects to begin within the year, including the creation of several parking lots, the expansion of a terminal concourse and the addition of a ground-level boarding terminal that will provide the 13-gate facility with five additional gates.
SRQ has landed two new airlines since October 2021 — Avelo Airlines and Breeze Airways.
Avelo offers nonstop flights to New Haven, Connecticut, while Breeze features a nonstop trip to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Breeze also may offer SRQ passengers nonstop flights to the western United States, Stuckey said.
“They do a lot of westbound service, which, currently, there’s nothing at our airport,” he said. “We’re working hard to see if we can make something happen with Breeze on a westbound flight, and I think that brings a lot of excitement to the community.”
In other TDC news…
- Bradenton city administrator Rob Perry suggested the waterfront building that has served as Bradenton’s city hall, 101 12th Street W., could be put to better use and said municipal officials were determining “the highest and best use of the (building) for the betterment of the community.”
- ArtCenter Manatee executive director Carla Nierman said the organization would break ground on a new building by the end of the year. It will be constructed next to the existing center, 209 Ninth St. W., Bradenton, which will be removed to make way for a sculpture garden.
- Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Elliott Falcione gave an update on the construction of an eight-story, 252-room Sheraton Hotel next to the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto set to open in the spring of 2024.
The next TDC meeting will be Monday, June 20, at the Center of Anna Maria Island, 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria.
What is the TDC?
The TDC guides the board of county commissioners on tourist development projects and the use of tourist tax revenue. Members include chair Misty Servia, a county commissioner, Vernon DeSear, Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, Ed Chiles, Eric Cairns, Jack Rynerson, Jiten Patel and Rahul Patel.