Skip to main content

Tag: SRQ

Tourism up, record set

Tourism up, record set

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

BRADENTON – As the busy tourist season approaches full swing, Manatee County’s tourism consultant delighted tourism officials with a milestone set in 2022.

“When we look at the entire calendar year, we see that for the first time ever, we exceeded over a million overnight commercial lodging visitors,” said Ann Wittine, of Tampa-based Research Data Services. “We also had a first-time-ever economic impact of over $1.5 billion for the year. That’s a 20% increase and a 50% increase from pre-COVID 2019.”

Wittine presented her state of tourism update to the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) on Feb. 13, featuring the latest available statistics related to the tourism industry in the county.

In December 2022, total visitors, number of room nights and economic impact were all up from December 2021, with 73,300 visitors (7.5%), 186,200 room nights (5.8%) and $91,956,200 in economic impact (14.5%).

“We gather this information in a number of different ways,” Wittine said. “We have face-to-face interviewers who are out talking to restaurant and lodging visitors for random surveys. We also talk to management companies, condo associations and others to make sure we get length of stay and party size, so we can calculate these estimates.”

Room occupancy for December was up slightly up (.7%) after being down slightly in the September 2022 report from RDS. The average daily room rate is also up, at $211.38 per day in December 2022 compared to $182.55 in December of 2021.

RDS also keeps track of where people are coming from when they visit the area. After being down in the last report issued in September 2022, visitors from Florida rebounded in December, up 13.9% from the previous year. While European visitors are up 115% from 2021, they have yet to rebound after COVID with only half the number from 2019 before the pandemic. With 12,610 visitors, the Midwest continues to be the largest visitor origin location outside of Florida, but that is down from 2021 by 10.2%. The Southeast region had the most growth with a 22.3% increase from 2021.

The report also included information about Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ). Data from these reports helps the airport locate markets that are underserved, so they can work to get direct flights to those markets, which boosts tourism to Manatee and Sarasota counties. SRQ reported serving 3.85 million people in 2022, up 21.6% over 2021.

Wittine predicted that the spring tourism season underway on Anna Maria Island will be busier than ever, saying that almost every property surveyed in January is reporting more bookings than last year, with many being fully booked through March.

SRQ works to meet demand

SRQ works to meet demand

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA – Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ), one of the primary arrival points for people visiting Anna Maria Island, continues working to improve the facility to boost air travel.

Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority Executive Vice President Mark Stuckey addressed the Aug. 15 meeting of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) with an update on the airport’s progress, crediting the relationship with the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) as being a big help in adding new flights and destinations.

“The tourist tax has been used as one of the incentives to ensure that when an airline adds new service to a new destination, a certain amount of marketing money will be dedicated to be spent in that city to promote the destination here and to let them know about the new route,” Stuckey said. “That’s had a huge impact. We’ve gone from six airlines and 12 non-stop destinations back in 2018 to 11 airlines and 53 non-stop destinations today.”

Stuckey said last year SRQ had 3,163,533 passengers, a 163% increase from 2020 and an over 60% increase from 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed air travel. Year-to-date, 2,093,000 passengers have flown through SRQ. The projection for the number of travelers through the airport is 3,700,000, which would make it another record-breaking year if that goal is met. Stuckey said that issues with pilot shortages and rises in fuel prices were factored into projected numbers.

In the past two years, many capital projects have been completed at SRQ, including increasing fuel storage capacity, adding additional security checkpoints to speed up the traveler screening process, parking improvements and other general facility improvements. Despite what’s already been accomplished, Stuckey said there are more projects planned to keep up with the rapid growth.

“We have approximately $200 million worth of projects and we expect all of them to break ground by the end of the year,” Stuckey said.

Those projects include a new, $10 million ground transportation area at the end of the terminal where taxis, Uber, Lyft, MCAT and other ground transportation services pick up passengers.

Another project is a consolidated rental car facility. Anticipated to cost about $40 million, the new facility would have all rental car companies at the airport located on a single lot. Other planned additions include new parking lots, a park and ride lot and additional aircraft parking. The list of improvements also includes some behind-the-scenes projects to help make some airport day-to-day operations more efficient.

The largest of the upcoming projects is the anticipated $70 million construction of a new five-gate, ground-level terminal to cater to airlines like Allegiant who prefer ground-level boarding options and allow other carriers to expand as needed to service additional flights.

Upcoming flight additions include Allegiant’s non-stop service to Minneapolis in October, Air Canada returning in October and Breeze Airways extending service to White Plains, New York.

As a token of appreciation for his department’s assistance with the Breeze Airways deal, Stuckey presented a model Breeze Airways jet to CVB Executive Director Elliott Falcione.

Bradenton Anna Maria Island Longboat Key

Tourism booming on AMI

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

BRADENTON – It appears to be an especially busy tourist season on Anna Maria Island, and there is data to prove it, according to Research Data Services’ Anne Wittine, who addressed the Feb. 14 meeting of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council with her bi-monthly “state of tourism” update.

Wittine began by discussing throughput data, which is the number of travelers passing through airport TSA checkpoints. While 2022 data is not yet available, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) was up 156% in 2021 over 2020 and 61% over pre-COVID 2019. SRQ is one of only two Florida airports that posted a positive number over 2019, the other being Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) which was only up 1% compared to SRQ’s 61%. Many of the arrivals to SRQ are headed for Anna Maria Island.

Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown asked Wittine if the addition of new airlines and destinations that have been added to SRQ have been the cause of the record-breaking throughput numbers. Wittine said RSW has had similar growth, but has not seen the results SRQ has because of the marketing efforts of Manatee County.

“I think the marketing that has supported the growth of these airlines has been a huge factor,” Wittine said. “Southwest Florida has also added new airlines, but has not seen the success you guys have enjoyed.”

The data for occupancy in the month of January 2022 has been tabulated, and it’s more good news for the Island and Manatee County as a whole, with 90% of properties reporting higher occupancy in January 2022 than 2021, as well as 2020 and 2019. When it comes to visitors in general, December 2021 data is the latest available at this time, and it shows a 33% increase from 2020. Room nights are up 29% and the economic impact for the county is up from $51,874,600 to $80,284,700, an impressive increase of 55%.

Visitor origins show the most visitors coming from Florida, which is typical. The Midwest is up 49% and is the #2 visitor origin, with the Northeast in third and the Southeast rounding out the top four. The data is not in for Canada and Europe yet, but Wittine expects those markets to be a big factor when the data is available. COVID-19 travel restrictions from Europe and Canada were only recently lifted.

The data also shows an increase in party size from December 2020 to 2021, up from 2.3 to 2.5 people. The length of stay for the same period is also up significantly from 5.9 nights to 6.2. These numbers may not seem like much, but according to Wittine, it is a huge increase. Lastly, the total number of visitors was up 42% from 683,300 in 2020 to 969,300 in 2021 and the economic impact jumped 44.8% from $908,996,700 in 2020 to $1,315,958,700 in 2021. Both of these are all-time record numbers.

SRQ continues to break records

SRQ continues to break records

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

SARASOTA – If it seems like there are more people on Anna Maria Island, it’s not an illusion.

According to new information and statistics released by Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ), records continue to be broken. Throughout the pandemic, SRQ has been one of the top-performing airports in America and the entire world. The growth has been unprecedented and has led to the airport adding hundreds of thousands of gallons of additional fuel storage, new security gates, a new rental car hub, additional parking and more infrastructure to handle the new flights that are being added almost every month.

Last month, 347,268 passengers traveled through the airport, compared to 119,114 passengers in December 2020. This represents an increase of 191.5% and is the highest passenger month in the airport’s history. Passengers traveling through in 2021 totaled 3,163,543. This is a 155.7% increase over 2020 and a 57% increase over the previous calendar year record of 2,010,304 passengers.

The trend of record growth is expected to continue this year. For the first four months of 2022, there are approximately 2 million airline seats available for purchase, which is a 42% increase over 2021. The airport just welcomed a new airline, Avelo, with nonstop service to New Haven, Connecticut, and in March, Allegiant will begin new nonstop service to Akron-Canton, Ohio and Appleton, Wisconsin. With the addition of Avelo and these new routes, SRQ now has 11 airlines serving 53 nonstop destinations.

Multiple projects were completed last year to accommodate the airport’s rapid growth: A major expansion of the screening checkpoint area; three new 100,000-gallon jet fuel storage tanks; expansion of the long-term parking lot; and the addition of remote parking lots. In 2022, plans include breaking ground on a new ground transportation facility; improved and expanded concessions; and a new ground-level terminal that will provide at least five additional gates for aircraft arrivals and departures.

“It is exciting to see the record-breaking numbers and the projected growth for 2022,” said Rick Piccolo, SRQ president and CEO. “As the airport and community continue to grow, we are committed to providing the infrastructure, amenities and superior level of service our customers deserve.”

Expansion and growth continue at Sarasota Bradenton International airport

Expansion, growth continue at SRQ

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

SARASOTA – Between 2018 and 2019, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport was the fastest-growing airport in the U.S., with 43% growth, SRQ Chief Operating Officer Mark Stuckey told the Manatee County Tourist Development Council on Oct. 18.

According to data provided by Stuckey, COVID-19 slowed passenger numbers significantly in 2020, but as travel restrictions began to lift, the numbers started to creep back up to where they were before the pandemic.

“We had a 326,000 passenger month in June, so we are probably the fastest growing airport in the United States, even for this year alone,” Stuckey said. “A lot of that is from the carriers that we have added.”

The combined inbound and outbound seats at SRQ have not only increased, but the growth is beyond what any airport, regardless of size, is experiencing over the 2019-21 period, he said. The airport saw 1,828,170 total seats in 2019, but that number so far in 2021 has risen to 4,582,660, a 151% increase from the pre-COVID total. Stuckey says the prediction for 2022 is well over 5 million seats.

“This is not normal for any other airports in Florida; it’s really driven by the community in Manatee and Sarasota County and the growth we’ve seen in these two counties,” said Stuckey, who also credits growth to new destination cities among current carriers and new carriers such as Avelo Airlines that will begin flights to Connecticut in January 2022.

SRQ is also the fastest recovering airport in the U.S. following the peak of the pandemic, with a 154% increase in July compared to July 2019. The second-fastest recovering airport for that same time period is Myrtle Beach, which saw a 66.4% increase, less than half of SRQ.

In March 2018, SRQ had six airlines and 12 non-stop destinations. As of August 2021, the airport served 10 airlines and 50 non-stop destinations, which is unprecedented in the U.S. for that period of time, and one of the main factors contributing to the record-breaking passenger growth, he said.

In addition to passenger growth, SRQ has several improvement projects underway to allow infrastructure to keep up with the increased demand. The largest of these projects is the fuel farm expansion.

“We only had 90,000 gallons of fuel storage at the airport, and that’s not enough to get you through a day,” Stuckey said. “We were having to bring in 10 or more tanker trucks a day just to get us through.”

The fuel farm expansion added two 100,000-gallon fuel tanks, which brings the total fuel storage to 290,000 gallons. A third tank is currently being installed and should be in use within weeks, at which time the total fuel storage will be 400,000 gallons. A new administration building and office space for the fuel farm staff is currently under construction.

A parking lot expansion was recently completed, adding 344 much-needed new spaces. 140 new parking spaces were added to the south end of the long-term lot, and 204 paved parking spaces were added to the grass overflow lot adjacent to the shaded parking lot.

The third recently completed project is a security checkpoint expansion. Stuckey said they began seeing backups at the airport’s four security checkpoints early this year and knew that getting more lanes open had to be high priority. The facility now has six checkpoints, which have improved wait times significantly.

Avelo Airlines the latest to add flights between SRQ and the northeast

Avelo Airlines the latest to add flights between SRQ and the northeast

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

SARASOTA – As Sarasota Bradenton International Airport moves forward with its mission to continue record growth and expansion, a new carrier will now offer the first non-stop flights between Connecticut and Sarasota.

Avelo Airlines, a relatively new player in the low-cost air travel market, will begin flights from New Haven to Sarasota on Jan. 13, 2022.

SRQ will be Avelo’s sixth destination in Florida. The airline currently serves Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Palm Beach and Tampa. Introductory fares will start at $49. 

“We are excited to offer this new, convenient and affordable direct service between southern Connecticut and Sarasota-Bradenton,” Avelo chairman and CEO Andrew Levy said. “With our very low fares and HVN’s unmatched convenience, traveling between Connecticut and the Sunshine State is easier than ever.”

Avelo will offer service on Boeing Next Generation 737-700 aircraft on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Flight 306 departs SRQ at 5:50 p.m., arriving HVN at 8:40 p.m., on Tuesdays. Thursdays and Sundays flight 306 departs SRQ at 7:45 p.m., arriving HVN at 10:35 p.m. Return flights will operate Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Flight 305 departs HVN at 2 p.m., arriving SRQ at 5:10 p.m., on Tuesdays. On Thursday and Sundays flight 305 departs HVN at 3:55 p.m., arriving SRQ at 7:05 p.m.

“We are thrilled that Avelo Airlines has chosen Sarasota Bradenton International Airport to be part of their air service network. With low fares and convenient nonstop service, passengers will have an affordable connection between two high-demand destinations. We look forward to welcoming Avelo Airlines to SRQ and we’re confident their service will be a great success and expand in the future,” said Rick Piccolo, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport president and CEO.

New Haven will be the 51st non-stop destination from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, which is not only one of the fastest-growing airports in America, but according to airport officials, possibly the fastest growing in the world. Currently, SRQ is adding additional fuel storage to keep up with increased demand. Other projects include expanded parking, additional security checkpoints and a central facility to store and maintain rental cars in one place. 

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport soaring despite COVID

Sarasota Bradenton International Airport soaring despite COVID

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

SARASOTA – While many of the nation’s airports are seeing a small to moderate rebound after last year’s record low air travel numbers due to COVID-19, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) is experiencing something entirely different.

SRQ Chief Operating Officer Mark Stuckey addressed the Manatee County Tourist Development Council’s monthly meeting last week to give an update on how the airport is performing.

“As we see this vaccine roll out, it’s making a huge difference in the number of passengers flying, and also the load factors on the aircraft. We’re a little different than a lot of airports across the United States; we’re recovering much faster. This is partly due to our geographic location, partly due to the governor’s open for business policy, and also the added service by Southwest Airlines makes a big difference,” Stuckey said.

Fitch ratings, one of the three nationally-recognized statistical rating organizations designated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, recently projected the nationwide recovery for airlines probably won’t happen until the fourth quarter of 2023, or possibly well into 2025. According to Stuckey, that is not the case at SRQ.

“SRQ Airport is not only 100% recovered, but we are breaking all-time records in the history of the airport for the month of March,” Stuckey said, reiterating how much the addition of Southwest Airlines flights has spurred growth. The airport saw 277,000 passengers in the month of March, and, according to Stuckey, they are on track to have 350,000 in April. The numbers are higher than the pre-COVID 2019 statistics.

One of the ways of measuring the number of air travelers at any airport is the TSA Checkpoint Throughput. Nationally, the Throughput data shows an average of 60% of the volume compared to two years ago. At SRQ, that number is in excess of 100%. Since Southwest began service at SRQ on Feb. 14, they have already increased service to 11 destinations and have two priority gates. As Southwest and other airlines such as Allegiant continue to expand to more destinations, these numbers will continue to grow.

Stuckey also pointed out that Delta, one of the nation’s largest carriers, is still blocking middle seats, meaning that 33% of each plane’s capacity is currently not being used. This will be lifted on May 1, which will further increase the number of arrivals and departures from SRQ.