City of Sarasota accounts for largest portion of funds
For September tourism in Sarasota County, it was back to a month-over-month downturn, the latest reports issued by the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s Office show.
The Tourism Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office for the last month of the 2025 fiscal year was lower by $109,431.93, compared to the total for September 2024, the latest data show.
This September, the revenue tally was $1,943,177.11. That is down nearly 5.4%, compared to the September 2024 total of $2,052,609.04.
The new reports also point out that the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) total for the 2025 fiscal year ended up at $47,360,634.30, which is lower by $1,113,625.87 — or approximately 2.3% — compared to the 2024 fiscal year total of $48,474,260.17.
The FY 2023 revenue added up to $50,484,720.95.
Last year, Erin Duggan, president and CEO of Visit Sarasota County (VSC), the county’s tourism marketing organization, told community leaders that she believed the decline in the bed tax revenue was a sign that tourism was returning to more normal levels after the boost the county enjoyed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath. With Gov. Ron DeSantis having chosen to impose fewer restrictions during the height of the pandemic than other governors did — and with Sarasota County’s long shoreline and abundance of parks — visitors readily traveled to the area, tourism leaders have explained.
September was the first month since March to mark a drop in the bed tax revenue, compared to the same month in the prior fiscal year, the new Tax Collector’s Office data show. The biggest month for the revenue from April through August came in April, the charts note. The figure was up by $521,280.47, compared to the April 2024 tally.
Among other data in the new reports, the total amount of the bed tax funds collected by Airbnb hosts for the 2025 fiscal year was $6,985,144.51. That marked a drop of approximately 4.2%, compared to the $7,287,755.56 that Airbnb turned over to the county for the 2024 fiscal year.
Altogether, the Tourist Development Tax Revenue derived from rentals of accommodations through online platforms — including HomeAway and TripAdvisor and all of their subsidiaries — made up 21.87% of the FY 2025 total, the new reports say. At the end of the 2024 fiscal year, the figure was 22.45%
On a related note: The City of Sarasota and Siesta Key vie each year in a proverbial battle over which location can bring in the largest amount of the TDT revenue. Siesta won last year, though the city prevailed the two previous years.
The data for the 2025 fiscal year show that the city managed to “win” once more, having accounted for 23.85% of the funds. Siesta’s portion was 22.64%. At the conclusion of the 2024 fiscal year, Siesta Key had accounted for 26.77% of the revenue; the city’s figure was 24.74%.
Among other locations, the Town of Longboat Key saw a jump in its percentage of the revenue this fiscal year — 12.02%, compared to 7.69% in the 2024 fiscal year.
In regard to other details in the latest data, the month-over-month decline in bed tax revenue for March has been lowered to $377,048.23. The previous reports put the figure at $415,130.36. Further, the month-over-month increase for April climbed from $495,859.70 to $521,280.47.
For a third example, the August total is up by $12,725.31, compared to the August 2024 figure. Yet, the initial report for that month showed an increase of just $1,779.96.
Tax Collector’s Office staff has pointed out that audits and other enforcement actions can result in changes in the numbers from month to month. Members of the staff search diligently for hosts of accommodations who are not paying the tax, Sherri Smith, former chief deputy tax collector for Sarasota County, has told the county’s Tourist Development Council over the years, during her presentations of the formal fiscal year reports.
‘Perception is reality’
Along with the information from the Tax Collector’s Office, Visit Sarasota County releases monthly reports with data that a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research, collects on its behalf.
The Visit Sarasota County report for September noted, “In tourism, perception is reality — and in September, our tourism bureau’s marketing dollars were fiercely competing with other top-tier destinations across Florida and the globe. While room rates increased year-over-year, occupancy did not keep pace. Compared to September 2024,” the number of visitors to the county was down, that report continued, as was spending.
“A bright spot,” the report pointed out, was the fact that the number of visitors from Central Europe, among other global regions, was up.
In that advisory, Duggan, VSC’s president and CEO, pointed out of the Central Europe data, “This tracks alongside the fact that we’re seeing fewer visitors from in-state and the drive market as they look to explore other areas of the world. Our team, alongside our industry, remains focused on ensuring every dollar we invest truly moves the needle — driving tourism and thus generating tax revenue that wouldn’t have happened but for our collective work.”
The following are other details of the VSC report for September:
- Visitors’ direct expenditureswere $67,131,300, which marked a drop of about 12.5%, compared to the tally of $76,704,600 in 2024.
- The total number of visitors this September was 79,500, which was down nearly 15.2%, compared to the 93,700 count in September 2024. However, given the fact that Hurricane Helene struck the county in late September 2024, residents whose homes suffered extensive damage may have helped boost the figures for hotel room rentals.
- This September, the lodging occupancy rate was 38% compared to 43.7% in September 2024.
- The average room rate was $206.65, which was up nearly 3%, compared to the September 2024 average of $200.72.
- Altogether, for this September, the room night tally for visitors was 155,600, which was down approximately 12%, compared to the count of 175,300 in September 2024.