SARASOTA, Fla — Usually, Sarasota is a destination for those visiting for the Super Bowl, but this year that won’t be the case.
“Unfortunately, because of the impacts of the pandemic we really have seen a reduction in what we were expecting from the Super Bowl,” Shelby Connett said.
Connett is the director of sports for Visit Sarasota County.
“Many of the official hotel blocks that we had booked through the NFL were actually for some of the corporate sponsors,” Connett said. “Those were kind of the first groups to decide to back out of attending the Super Bowl, so unfortunately a lot of those blocks were canceled.”
But, she says it’s not just the coronavirus pandemic impacting the turnout of hotel check-ins.
“Even though we are super excited to see the Bucs go, the home team, it definitely did have an impact on those travelers coming in,” Connett said.
She says because the Bucs are local and their fans are local, people are staying home, versus booking a hotel room.
Also, the amount fans allowed into the game has been limited. And, those who are attending are mostly local healthcare workers, who were gifted tickets.
“Definitely providing tickets to the local healthcare workers took away from tickets that could’ve been given to traveling fans from out of state or across the state,” Connett said. “But, we really think that regardless because of the reduced fan attendance in the stadium it would’ve been a significant impact either way.”
Connett thinks giving the tickets to frontline workers was a great gesture of appreciation for all they’ve done throughout this pandemic.
Rick Konsavage, the managing director of Longboat Key Resort says they’ve started recovering from the initial sting of the pandemic. He says they’ve started to get more people staying at the resort.
“Mostly the Florida drive market,” Konsavage said. “Our customers are coming from Orlando, Tampa believe it or not, and St. Pete.”
He says they usually see a good turnout when a big game like this comes to town, but he hasn’t had any visitors for the Super Bowl book a room.
“We’re happy with what we’ve got but obviously the Super Bowl would’ve been nice to have that compression and more excitement in filling up the rooms,” Konsavage said.
He says although they had some optimism, they weren’t expecting big numbers from the Super Bowl. Konsavage says the resort didn’t even budget for Super Bowl preparations.
“We feel that it’s still good for the whole town, and the local market will do well with the parties and the little gathering at the bars and restaurants,” Konsavage said. “They all need it. Everybody needs a little boost, and it can’t hurt us.”
Visit Sarasota agrees. Although hotels in Sarasota are going to see reduced room nights from the game then they typically would have, the restaurants and bars may have better luck benefiting from it.
“On the flipside you know, having the hometown team that’s competing, may boost some of our restaurant and bar business,” Connett said. “I think people would be more interested in going out and celebrating and watching the game out.”
Regardless, Connett and Konsavage believe the resorts and hotels will bounce back from this ruling pandemic.
"I think especially in Florida if you are by the beach I think you have a great opportunity to really maintain some level of occupancy," Konsavage said.
- Ellen surprises Tampa Bay teacher, Bucs fan with tickets to Super Bowl LV
- Senate approves budget bill to pass Biden's $1.9T COVID-19 relief plan
- Tampa Bay students write letters of encouragement to the Bucs ahead of Super Bowl LV
- Where to watch Super Bowl LV around Tampa Bay
- Here's how to avoid parking in downtown Tampa ahead of Super Bowl LV
- Everything you need to know about Super Bowl LV in Tampa
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter