Newsletter 93

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST

RED TIDE HAS TURNED AT LAST

The unforgettable red tide bloom that tarnished Florida waters and destroyed hundreds of the state’s beloved marine animals is no more. For the first time since October 2017, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, is no longer present in water samples collected in coastal waters anywhere in the state. Samples were recently taken in Southwest Florida, where the bloom once stretched for 150 miles. To read more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Red Tide Turns

FLORIDA BREAKS TOURIST RECORD

Even with red tide menacing the coastline and Hurricane Michael striking the Panhandle, 2018 was another record-breaking year for tourism in the state of Florida. The Sunshine State welcomed 126.1 million out-of-state visitors last year, up 6.2% from the 118.8 million who visited in 2017, according to state tourism agency Visit Florida. More Canadians and domestic visitors came to Florida in 2018 than they did the year before. Canadian visitorship increased from 3.4 million in 2017 to 3.5 million in 2018, and domestic visitorship grew from 104.4 million to 111.8 million. Oversees visitation fell slightly, however, from 10.9 million in 2017 to 10.8 million last year. Click here if you want to read more: Florida Tourism Soars

SARASOTA TARGETS NEW VISITORS

Sarasota County’s latest long-term tourism marketing plan will likely center around highlighting the country’s distinctive, one-of-a-kind attractions as a way to catch the eye of potential new visitors. Visit Sarasota County recently presented a preliminary version of its new long-term strategic plan to the Tourist Development Council to solicit feedback from committee members. The plan is designed to help guide the marketing of the area through 2025. Notably, the report suggests that instead of marketing to potential new visitors based on their interests – recreation, arts and culture, etc. – the county will attempt to bring new visitors to Sarasota County by highlighting its main "attractor," or the thing that sets it apart from anywhere in the world, which in Sarasota’s case is the beach. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Sarasota Tourism Marketing Plan

LOCAL HOME STARTS RISE

Home starts posted another solid year in Southwest Florida, but the share of new affordable housing remains low. Builders broke ground on 6,158 local single-family homes in 2018, an annual gain of 9.8%, according to a new report by data suppler Metrostudy. Baby boomers continued to drive the pace of new-home construction, and those nearing or at retirement will keep it going, said Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy’s Sarasota-Bradenton region. "Demand will remain strong over the coming decade, but it will be affected by affordability and interest rates," he said. There’s more on this story here: Homes Starts

BEST STATE TO RETIRE? HERE.

Retirees have many reasons to live in Florida, and now they have one more: The finance website WalletHub named the state #1 on it’s list of 2019’s Best States to Retire. The Sunshine State already has more retirement-age residents than anywhere else in the country, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center study, with more than 19% of its population 65 and older. #2 was South Dakota and #3 was Colorado. Click here for more: Florida Best State to Retire

REGION TO HOST BASEBALL WORLD CUP

Sarasota and Bradenton will be the first U.S. cities to host the biennial Under 18 Baseball World Cup in 26 years, an event that tourism officials in Sarasota and Manatee counties said will bring visitors from within driving distance and all around the world to Southwest Florida during an otherwise slow season for tourism. The international event, where the best 16-to-18 year-old baseball players in the world compete and showcase their talents to recruiters, will be held September 2021 at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium and Bradenton’s LECOM Park, the spring training homes for the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburg Pirates, respectively. There’s more here: Baseball World Cup

CITY EXPLORES LIDO FIXES

The city will be inspecting the deteriorating Lido Beach Pool and Pavilion to determine what repairs and upgrades are needed after a developer contracted to transform the aging concession stand into a destination abandoned the undertaking because of community backlash. The Sarasota County Commission recently voted to mutually terminate a contract with Lido Beach Development Partners to renovate the maturing beach spot following fierce community opposition, with opponents claiming the facelift would attract a rowdy crowd, loud music and more traffic. The termination agreement reimbursed the developers just over $200,000 for expenses they incurred while planning the project. Click on the link for more: Lido Fixes

TOWN, COUNTY TO SHARE SAND

Manatee County and the town of Longboat Key intend to share sand dredged from Longboat Pass to renourish eroded beaches in both jurisdictions.The county and town alternate occasional dredging of the pass between the north end of Longboat and county-owned Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island. The county is the next recipient of dredged sand from the waterway linking Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, County Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker told the county and town commissioners recently that the county expects to get about 70,000 cubic yards of sand from the pass for Coquina Beach. Please click here for more on this story: Sand Sharing