Sarasota hoteliers project rosy 2015

SARASOTA — Sarasota County hotel executives have a positive outlook on bookings for 2015, and, for the first time in the history of the Visit Sarasota County annual survey, the good vibes are unanimous.

Visit Sarasota County, the county's tourism marketing arm, also reported a stellar 2014 during a luncheon Nov 17. On total visitors in paid lodgings, the count was up 5.2% in fiscal 2014 over 2013, to 929,000 people. The average occupancy rate for the county during the year was 74%.

“I'm very pleased with the results,” Visit Sarasota County President Virginia Haley says. “We are pacing above much of our competitive set in Florida. With the addition of new hotel inventory, a continued commitment to targeted outreach in key markets and strong partnerships with our industry partners, we stand poised to ensure another successful year for tourism in 2015.”

Other figures backed up the solid year in Sarasota County tourism. One area is in revenue per available room, the closely watched metric that's a function of average occupancy and daily rates. In that category, called RevPar, Sarasota County hotels posted an 11.9% increase, to $115.10 in fiscal 2014 over 2013. Year-round occupancy rose 3.8%, says Haley, to surpass 70% for the first time. And direct expenditures increased 10.4% in fiscal 2014 over fiscal 2013, to $836 million.