SARASOTA COUNTY (WSNN) – The Sarasota-Bradenton Airport passenger traffic is booming and Sarasota County tourism is jumping as well.
SRQ is on a roll. Numbers are even higher than those before the pandemic.
“We’ve seen a little over 2.1 million more seats in and out of this airport in the first 10 months than we saw in 2019 when we were the fastest growing airport in the country then,” SRQ’s president, Rick Piccolo said.
March was record-breaking with more than 270,000 passengers, and the airport isn’t easing up. Piccolo says it’s close to having 300,000 passengers this month.
“It’s very rare to see growth at the airports right now,” Piccolo said. “Most are still losing traffic, and for us, it’s just unbelievable to see the amount of growth that we had.”
“We’re so excited to see, not only the new airlines that have come in, such as Southwest, but all of the new services that are being offered in and out of their airport,” Visit Sarasota County’s vice president, Erin Duggan said.
Through its consumer surveys over the past year, Visit Sarasota County discovered SRQ’s success is having a direct impact on tourism.
“An airport like SRQ is exactly what our visitors are looking for,” Duggan said. “It’s an easy in, it’s an easy out. You’re not really having to take shuttles and transportation whether to get to your car or terminal.”
Spring is the airport’s busiest season, but this year’s summer may be the exception.
“Looking at the seat projection that we have through the summer,” Piccolo said. “The summer is going to be just as busy as winter-spring was.”
The same goes for tourism.
“We’re not seeing that spring break decline that we usually see,” Duggan said. “
“COVID is less of an issue, and as people get vaccinated, and they’re tired of being locked down, Florida is open, summer is here, kids are out of school,” Piccolo said. “All those things, I think, contribute to it.”
The high demand calls for some upgrades. From parking and car rental facilities to expanding baggage claims and terminals.
