Q+A with Virginia Haley

Even though season is over, the tourism industry continues to have an impact on the local economy as it evolves into more of a year-round phenomenon. That’s good news for Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County, who’s watched the organization grow significantly over the past 15 years.

We talked to the tourism guru about trends in the field, the downtown hotel boom and the balance between accommodating visitors and full-time residents.

Q: As we head into the summer, what does the tourism forecast look like?

A: I think it looks very strong. One of the things we do when we do the surveys of our hoteliers, we ask them: How does it look three months out? Is your pace of booking ahead of last year, about the same as last year or lower? 

Even though it was a record summer last year, the vast majority are saying they’re ahead of last year’s pace. We’re already running into some of the weekends — particularly in July — of not being able to find places on the beach.

Q: What’s responsible for that off-season growth?

A: First and foremost, it’s Florida. About seven years ago, we started a very aggressive campaign, shifting to a very strong Florida campaign. You kick it off with Savor Sarasota the first two weeks of June and really push out that Florida message. The other part of the business as you get into the later part of summer and into fall, then, is the Europeans — the Brits, the Germans.

Q: What kind of an impact does traffic have on tourism? 

A: It has very little impact on visitor satisfaction. You’re really looking at a very small time — from mid-February until the end of March. I don’t think it’s a problem now, but as we’re adding new hotels, I think, as a community, we need to start developing strategies for moving people around.

Q: Have you had conversations about how improved transit options might impact tourism?

A: We get asked that a lot. People are wondering, say, “How can I get from Nathan Benderson Park to Siesta easily?” And it’s not easy. Enhancements in public transportation will obviously help. There were once plans that (Urban Design Studio Director) Karin Murphy was a part of — this goes back to when she worked at the city — for a water taxi system. That’s obviously a tailor-made thing for visitors, because they’re not looking to get somewhere by the precise minute a resident is.

Q: Is there enough demand to fill all the planned downtown hotels?

A: We were looking at some of our plans going forward over the next couple of years. We had our challenges and we had our strengths, and the new hotels were in both columns. The good news is it does provide us with flexibility. The challenge is, the rule of thumb is you don’t want to add more than, say, 2-5% of the existing hotel rooms into a market at one time. You look at the rates going down, occupancy going down. We’re looking at adding, in the city of Sarasota, anywhere from 40-50%. That’s 125,000 new visitors we need to generate to at least maintain our current occupancy. You can see the challenge. Right now, we’re building the next couple of years’ business plans and being really, really aggressive to meet those goals. 

"We were looking at some of our plans going forward over the next couple of years. We had our challenges and we had our strengths, and the new hotels were in both columns."

Q: How close an eye do you keep on policy developments that might impact big tourist destinations?

A: I think that’s probably one of the biggest changes in our industry as a whole and particularly for us. Originally, when we were the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, we were an advertising organization. I wouldn’t even say full marketing. It was about placing ads. I think what you’ve seen in the past 15 years is the evolution of our industry — we’re destination management organizations, and it’s beyond marketing. The Lido renourishment and the potential impacts to Siesta, traffic, Bayfront 20:20 — these are all things that have a huge ability to impact tourism, and we need to be involved. The rowing was another one. We put our hearts and souls into that, because we could see it had the potential to really change our whole market, and it certainly has done that.

Q: How do you make sure Nathan Benderson Park remains a draw?

A: What people don’t understand is when you build these major facilities, it’s not a case of you build it, they will come. We will have to to continually, aggressively be out there marketing and either get new events, or, once people have come here and had terrific experiences, making sure you get in the cycle.

For instance, the USRowing Masters that we had last year, we’re working to get them back in a couple of years. So, you know, every three or four years, some of those groups are going to come back to Sarasota. That’s how you build an economic impact. 

Those events are great; they’re exciting. They’re things that make you very proud of Sarasota. But the real bread and butter can be the training. You have teams that come down for a week to 10 days for training and access to warm water during the winter. It winds up being a great economic pipeline.

Q: People have been critical about events that fall in the height of season. What kind of value do these big events bring to Sarasota?

A: I think you have to evaluate them, and I think you’re constantly balancing. It’s interesting that you look at a lot of seasonal destinations and you see a lot of their marquee events are during the height of their season. It’s a combination — people are coming here because we have all of those offerings at the height of the season and the weather’s great and it’s the best time to be outside. I think what we have currently is not too much for us to absorb. I love the fact that the Sarasota Music Half Marathon got people into our neighborhoods to see how gorgeous they are. I love that. I thought it was a great way to showcase the city.

Q: I know VSC has been working on succession planning. What does your future with the organization look like?

A: I would like this to be my last full-time job. I know currently my board has a task force working on a new contract. I think they’re going to have discussions in June/July, so we’ll know more then. If I had my druthers, I’d be here another five years.

I’m involved a lot with my industry on a national basis. You see people and you say, “How’s it going in Indianapolis?” And they go, “Oh, no, I’m in Louisville now.” You watch them all move around. It’s funny — we’re different, because these are all pretty much people who came from Sarasota, or those who didn’t have decided this is their home. I think we’re a little bit different because we’re more deeply rooted in the community.