Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Based 7,000 miles away from Tokyo, Sarasota County is the hub of the well-known Olympic Games this summer.
Even though, Sarasota County is among a small- to mid-size destination in Florida, Visit Sarasota County (VSC) sports tourism contends right with the heavy hitters in the state and the country. VSC enjoys pride in our sports tourism that has become powerful for almost two decades. Credit goes to our partnership with Sarasota County government, private organizations and community members.
The history of the involvement of VSC with sports that all started in 2003 when VSC partially employed enthusiastic staff members who would look into the growth of a budding sports events destination. Fast forward to 2020 and the VSC sports department of two, helped by the whole VSC team, works meticulously to perk up the sector and bid on new sports business from around the world, as the continuing to strengthen current relationships.
The growth and expansion of our destination has come together with improved sports facilities and infrastructures. The motto “If you build it, he will come” may work for Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams;” in our reality, the manpower representing our destination and facilities is what seals the deal on our business ventures related to sports tourism. For success, building a facility is the first element. Having a dedicated team to counterfeit relationships with event owners and providing necessary event management support — including the funding needed for those services — is critical to our ability to organize important events.
Our sports personnel remain busy year-round. We know this firsthand because VSC supported nearly 100 events that welcomed more than 92,000 athletes in fiscal year 2019.
