Hurricane Irma kept Florida from reaching a goal of 120 million visitors last year but didn’t stop the state from hitting a new single-year tourism high, according to numbers released Tuesday by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott announced that Florida drew an estimated 116.5 million visitors in 2017, up 3.6 percent from the previous high of 112.4 [...]

 21-room Siesta Key Palms Hotel, a boutique style resort with a five-star attitude

New owner has given 1950s building a complete facelift Henry Rodriguez has taken a motel more than a half century old at the gateway to Siesta Key and spun it into a luxury, boutique resort. It's an Old Florida environment — without feeling so old. [...]

The broader economy might be throwing out some mixed signals, but Florida tourism was showing no signs of waning during the first three months of 2016. While the nation's gross domestic product saw a mere 0.5 percent bump in annual growth rate during the first quarter, and as retailers struggled with a customer base that is more prone to [...]

Conde Nast Traveler just ranked the fifteen best food cities in the country and Sarasota made the list. Sure, we're number 14, but considering our size (and the places we were up against) that's a huge win for a town that has always punched above its weight when it comes to fine dining. Of course, it was Conde Nast's annual Reader's Choice [...]

105 million people travel to Sunshine State in 2015, governor says

Florida welcomed 105 million visitors last year, making 2015 the fifth consecutive year where tourism records were broken. New Tourism Record

The new record exceeded the previous high of 98.5 million in 2014 by 6.6 percent, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotion [...]

The Sunshine State welcomed an estimated 79.1 million visitors during the first nine months of 2015, the most of any such period in Florida's history.

The nine-month count was a 5.5 percent increase when compared with the same period in 2014.

The third quarter of this year saw an estimated 25.5 million visitors, an increase of 6.8 percent, [...]

Sarasota Tourism

More than 28 million visitors flocked to Florida during the first three months of the year, setting new tourism records while crowding beaches, hotels and those theme parks marked by signature black ears. As the economy mends, tourists are feeling more confident about booking a Sunshine State vacation, staying longer and [...]