Pictured: Visit Sarasota County and Partner Hotels at IMEX 2024. Provided photo.

“If you build it, they will come.” What you may have first heard as a Kevin Costner quote in Field of Dreams has become a pervasive idea – and in some cases, a business strategy – that by building something alone, people naturally will want to go there.

We in the travel and tourism industry, however, tend to flip this saying on its head and joke that no, they will not come–unless one crucial piece is accounted for: marketing.

While Sarasota County has so much to write home about, resting on laurels is not a viable long-term strategy for us at Visit Sarasota County. Instead, relationships are one of the most important marketing strategies we deploy and steward – sometimes over months, others over years – to bring both vacation-seekers and group business alike to our community.

In that group meetings space, we’re experiencing strong momentum – and not by chance. Intentional work conducted year-round by our Sports and Sales teams incentivizes athletes, coaches, competitions, corporate retreats, weddings, and more to consider Sarasota County for their next gathering – in turn, keeping our hotels full, economy active and residents employed.

As you can imagine, to reach such a broad array of audiences, we lean on several tactics from attending trade shows to inviting planners on familiarization (FAM) tours. Perhaps one of the most powerful of them all? Word-of-mouth referrals.

Last April, Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Neunder connected us with the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). After our initial meeting, we quickly realized the opportunity before us and not only sent our Sports Marketing Manager to attend but also sponsor their Annual Meeting taking place just a week later in Indianapolis. Nate Sweetman from our team spoke from the podium about our area and, specifically, our swimming venues like the Selby Aquatic Center.

From there, a representative from CSCAA came to our area in July for a site visit, checking out the facilities at Nathan Benderson Park among other venues. We once again sponsored their annual meeting this past year, and brought another representative on another site visit. Just last month, the CSCAA announced that its 2025 Open Water Championships will officially be in Sarasota County in December later this year.

This is but one example of how we’re supporting over 75 – and growing – sporting events annually. And the traction is just as strong for the corporate meetings.

Last October, we made our debut appearance at IMEX – the largest trade show in the world for the business events industry. Last year, nearly 16,000 participants attended, representing 3,500 companies. Five of those participants represented Sarasota County, with four local hotels joining our Sales Manager at our booth. While the number seems daunting, the return on investment is even more so.

During one of several dozen appointments, our Sales Manager, Shantel Norman, met a representative from a health company. At the beginning of this year, we invited her on one of our FAM tours and within weeks, she booked a meeting for the company’s executive team this month at The Westin. She even called us directly to discuss room details and potential excursions.

This level of trust is earned, and something we cherish because it correlates not only in a job well done but better quality of life for our residents. By attracting groups, we’re helping generate local tourist development tax revenue solely from tourists that is directed right back into our community – not only does that pay for our tourism marketing efforts to continue but also benefits beach maintenance, sports stadiums improvements, and the arts, to name just a few.

We could not contribute at the scale and scope that we do now without partnering with the sales teams at our hotels and sports venues. They bring relationships to the table, and we bring relationships to the table, and together we’re able to land hotel rooms from handshakes.

One of the most rewarding parts of our job is to see these leads come in, and the relationships nurtured and worked to bring business to our community. Because it’s not just the beaches or ballrooms that close the deal – it’s the personal connections and the trust we build that turns potential into progress and introductions into impact.

Erin Duggan is President & CEO of Visit Sarasota County.

Pictured: Visit Sarasota County and Partner Hotels at IMEX 2024. Provided photo.