Who is the SCVB?

• The Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau (the SCVB) is the official and primary provider of visitor information for Sarasota County where tourism is the top industry.
• SCVB operates the official Sarasota Visitors Information Center located at 701 North Tamiami Trail, south of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. The Visitors Center is staffed by fifty knowledgeable volunteers who welcome approximately 100,000 visitors and newcomers a year to the area. Partners are welcome to display their promotional literature in the center year-round.
• SCVB matches $3 million of Tourism Development Tax Funds with $400,000 in private dollars contributed by the tourism industry to create a $3.4 million marketing campaign for Sarasota County.
• SCVB has the most powerful and effective tourism media relations in the county - hosting more than 50 travel writers annually from media outlets such as Washington Post, Travel Channel, New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler. Annually, the SCVB responds to more than 100 story leads and 300 media requests. The SCVB also has public relations and sales representation throughout Europe.
• SCVB produces the only "Official Sarasota County Visitors Guide", distributed to 135,000 potential visitors annually.
• www.sarasotafl.org is the official and comprehensive visitor web site for Sarasota County, serving vacationers, meeting planners, sports event holders and travel agents. In 2007, the website averaged 6,500 sessions a day and is listed on all advertising material. New site features, upgrades and enhancements are made continuously.
• SCVB does extensive research on visitor trends, tourist spending, and occupancy and average daily rate numbers, which are available to all SCVB partners. Here are just some of the recent results: 
  
  
  • Average annual income of web visitors $67,000 per year. 
  • SCVB's web users stay an average of 6.9 days in Sarasota.
  • 48% of the SCVB web users convert to visitors.
  • Average expenditures per party of our SCVB web visitor is $3,272.00.

• SCVB founded the Sarasota Area Sports Authority to promote amateur, youth and adult sports events throughout the county.
• SCVB also functions as a resource for the motion picture and film industry providing assistance for location scouting, housing, local talent, and permitting.
• SCVB hosts exclusive networking opportunities for the tourism industry through Hospitality Connections and monthly Partner Coffee.