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Who is the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau?

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  • 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.

Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors

Chairman:
David Pierce
The Venice Area Chamber of Commerce

Vice Chairman:
Leslie Power
Hotel Indigo

Secretary/Treasurer:
Richard Bradshaw
Comfort Inn/ Days Inn

Immediate Past Chairman:
Sharon Cunningham
Cunningham Property Management


Dr. John Wetenhall
The John & Mable Ringling Museum

Aledia Tush
CB Outfitters

Trent Young
Captain's Landing

Jay Schrock, Ph. D
USF School of Hotel & Restaurant Management

James McManemon
The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota

Dan Schefer
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Larry Fineberg
Benderson Development

Susan T. Danis
The Sarasota Opera

Mark Becker
The Hyatt Regency Sarasota

Kumar Mahadevan, Ph. D
Mote Marine Laboratory


Staff
Virginia Haley
President
vhaley@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #107

Stephanie Grosskreutz
Managing Director
stephanieg@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #102

Erin Thomas Duggan
Public Relations Director
eduggan@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #108

Anne Zavorskas
Director of Marketing
annez@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #111

Bernie Gottschalk
Partnership Manager
bgottschalk@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #103
Cell: (941) 302-3758

Jason Puckett
Sports Coordinator
jpuckett@sarasotafl.org
(941)955-0991 ext. #105

Kelly M. Defebo
Sales Manager
kdefebo@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #106

Karen Gallagher
Visitor Services Coordinator
kgallagher@sarasotafl.org

Bob Horn
Finance & Accounting Manager
bhorn@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 Ext. #109

Tammy Stewart
Staff Accountant
tstewart@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #110

Janis Holland
Executive Assistant
jholland@sarasotafl.org
(941) 955-0991 ext. #101

Visitors Center
info@sarasotafl.org
701 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, Florida 34236
(941) 957-1877
Fax number (941) 951-2956
Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Partners
Who is the SCVB?
Partner Benefits and Rates
Join Now
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