ANNA MARIA – Spring tourism was strong on Anna Maria Island, according to Anne Wittine, Director of Quantitative Research for Tampa-based Research Data Services.
The Manatee County tourism consultant told the Tourist Development Council at
its June 23 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island that April 2022 broke records.
With 99,900 visitors, tourism rose 19.8% from April 2021. Room nights were at an all-time high at 230,200, up 5.5%, with an economic impact of $139,186,600, a 35.9% increase from a record-breaking April 2021. “These numbers are partly due to the fact we were so full in March that many people simply weren’t able to come” until April, Wittine said. “Also due to a late Easter, some of those trips were extended to April.”
Wittine spoke of visitor origins, saying there was a notable increase in visitors from the Northeast, up 74.9% from April 2021, and from the Midwest, up 81.7% during the same period. The Southeast was up 24.6%, however, Florida visitation was down 31.8%.
The average party size was 3.0 people, up from 2.8 last April. Wittine says while that number doesn’t sound like much, it’s a significant increase of 7%. The average length of stay was 5.1 days.
Fiscal year-to-date numbers were equally impressive, with the number of visitors up 21.6% and the economic impact up 35.9% over the previous fiscal year.
Airport traffic at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) was also up over 15% from April 2021.
Wittine also addressed gas prices and their impact on tourism.
“Considering gas prices and all the things that are going on, we are not hearing from property managers that it’s affecting their summer business,” Wittine said. “For May, we’re still seeing properties reporting increases from last year.”
A Traveler Sentiment Study showed that concern about gas prices went from 38.7% last May to 60.6% this year. It also showed that 76.1% of visitors were optimistic about personal health and 53.9% were optimistic about personal finances. Both of these numbers are lower than last May, when 81.9% were optimistic about personal health and 76% were optimistic about personal finances. Concern about the economy almost doubled, but so far has not kept visitors from booking vacations.
