Visit Sarasota County at Connect Marketplace. Provided photo.

Every travel decision involves some level of negotiation. Who to bring, what to pack, when to go, and of course, where to go. The same back-and-forth we experience when planning our own vacations is happening behind the scenes as meeting planners evaluate destinations for their next big event. As locals, we may not always notice when a group is in town, but I can assure you, these visitors are a quiet yet powerful force in our local economy.

With each overnight room booked, visitors generate Tourist Development Tax that is reinvested back into our community’s quality of life amenities. But their economic impact hardly stops at check-in.

If you’ve ever attended an out-of-town conference, you know groups are eager to explore their host destination, too – reserving tables at surrounding restaurants, shopping for gifts to bring back home to loved ones, experiencing attractions, and even extending their stay days after their event. Each of those purchases creates sales tax revenue while putting dollars directly into the hands of local businesses and the locals they employ.

Naturally, our tourism marketing and sales team at Visit Sarasota County sees and stewards group business as one of our key audiences. Last year, we collected more than 500 leads from meeting planners, 65 of which we ultimately helped book their events in Sarasota County. Their time in destination, from this audience alone, amounted to $9.7 million in economic impact.

You’ve heard me share before that resting on our laurels is not a winning marketing strategy, especially when public dollars are on the line. That’s why our Sales Team isn’t waiting for the phone to ring, either; they’re out in the field, attending trade shows across the country – and sometimes, the globe – to bring business back home.

This past month, members of our team attended Connect Marketplace with more than 3,000 professionals in the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions industry. Our mobile visitor center, AVA, served as our booth and made a strong impression, as did the locally curated recommendations from our attending hotel partners.

Which came in handy as we then welcomed a select group of those planners back to Sarasota County, where they toured properties on Lido Key, Longboat Key, and Downtown Sarasota, engaged with exhibits at The Ringling, and caught a Siesta Key sunset. I’m told there was even a personal concert from our Sales Manager, Shantel Norman, at The Gator Club one evening!

This is the kind of encompassing yet surprising approach we’re going for; so much so, we’ve bottled it up in a brand we call “Business as Unusual,” with visuals curated by local artist Lipstick Lex. Since launching this brand last year, we’ve themed our booths and giveaways accordingly, and it’s resonated, underscoring from the get-go our flexible venues with custom meeting incentives, so groups can feel at ease and expect a little surprise during their stay.

And next month, our team and several partners will do it all again as they head to Las Vegas for IMEX, the largest trade show in the world for the business events industry, and to London for Florida Huddle UK & Ireland, hosted by VISIT FLORIDA for travel trade, media, and tour operators.

Globally, locally, and everywhere in between, our team is making the case for Sarasota County. Because every travel decision is ultimately a choice and our task is to keep our destination in the conversation.

Erin Duggan is President & CEO of Visit Sarasota County.

Visit Sarasota County at Connect Marketplace. Provided photo.

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