Has traffic affected tourism in Sarasota County?

Traffic woes again surfaced during a local government meeting Tuesday, with Sarasota County officials downplaying the effect it has on the local tourism industry.

"Do we have traffic problems? Yes. Do we need to continue to work on it? Yes,” said Commissioner Christine Robinson. “But, the comments that tourists are beginning to shy away from Sarasota simply aren’t true.”

Robinson said she looks forward to working on traffic problems, but said the “rumor mill” she’s heard at community and government meetings about gridlock crippling regional tourism weren’t true. And that amplifying those comments could actually hurt the tourism sector in the long run.

“We have had occasional complaints, but they have had more to do with parking ticket issues,” said Visit Sarasota County President Virginia Haley, who was presenting the Tourist Development Council's annual report.

According to visitor profiles complied by the Visit Sarasota County for the first quarter of this year, 97% of tourists polled were satisfied with their trips and 93% of respondents said they would return to the region again. While Haley expected to get dinged this year due to traffic, those numbers did not fall compared with the same timeframe in 2014.

Gridlock doesn’t have a profound affect on visitors because they aren’t in a hurry to get to work or drop their kids off at school, Haley said. And when traffic backs up on the Ringling Bridge or through St. Armands Circle, the views of Sarasota Bay and surrounding areas are pleasant sights.

“It’s not a terrible experience,” Haley said.

But, Haley said it will be important to explore new ways of moving tourists throughout the county, citing ideas for more trolleys or water taxis as potential transportation options.

Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing organization, at a recent meeting discussed ways to move visitors into lesser traveled tourism areas, like the Celery Fields in Sarasota County.

"I think part of the solution is getting people to explore more parts of the county," Haley said. "Because we have some underserved areas that aren’t seeing a lot of visitors."