SARASOTA-BRADENTON (WSNN) – SRQ airport historically sees a huge spike in travelers this week, but in typical 2020 fashion, things are looking a bit different.
“The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are our busiest time,” SRQ’s Vice President Mark Stuckey said. “Typically we would go into overflow parking. We don’t expect to go into overflow this year.”
Stuckey says they’re seeing more airport traffic every month, the holidays have taken a hit.
“We are seeing a lot of traffic, but compared to last year for the week of Thanksgiving, we’re looking at about only 93-percent of the flights and number of seats into and out our market,” Stuckey said.
Fewer people flocking to the Suncoast means a ‘less than thriving’ tourism industry.
“We’re not seeing the Canadian visitation that we would normally start to see this time of year,” Visit Sarasota County’s Virginia Haley said. “We’re not seeing our international visitors. We are still seeing very strong drive market, and people are willing to drive even farther distances.”
Sarasota Resident, Fern Millman, made plans to drive up to her daughter in Maryland for Thanksgiving, but that quickly changed.
“I went and got tested for COVID and my rapid test came back positive,” Millman said.
So she cancelled. She says the worst part is not being able to see her six-year-old grandson.
“It’s just too dangerous to come, so he was upset, and obviously I was upset by it,” Millman said.
Since no one is traveling in Eunice Gick’s family, she won’t be hosting her family in Sarasota this year. They’re going virtual.
“We love people, and we love to have people over,” Gick said. “So, it’s a sad thing this year, because it’s just going to be my husband and myself. We’re going to FaceTime with our daughter in Dallas.”
On the bright side, Gick says she can try cooking something new.
“This year is kind of giving me a chance to spread my wings and try some new recipes,” Gick said.
If you do plan to travel, SRQ will have COVID-10 precautions in place with social distancing markings, temperature scanners, mask-requirements, and increased cleaning.
