Isaiah Lewis, presenting the tourism research report, told the council that Manatee County's June September estimate includes about 685,000 total visitors, 851,000 room nights and an estimated $634,000,000 in direct spending.

Lewis said paid visitors accounted for roughly 456,000 of the total and that nearly 80% of visitor spending came from visitors in paid accommodations. Reported lodging metrics for the combined inventory showed an occupancy near 62%, an average daily rate (ADR) of $274 and a RevPAR of $174 across an inventory stated as 11,215 units.

On visitor characteristics, Lewis said the typical travel party was about three people with an average length of stay of 5.4 nights. Staff provided a geographic origin breakdown that attributed roughly 212,000 visitors from Florida, 143,000 from the Southeast, 116,000 from the Northeast and 164,000 from the Midwest; West and international arrivals were smaller (roughly 20,000 27,000 in the presenter's estimate). Top origin markets included Tampa, Orlando and New York City.

Lewis explained methodology: the firm conducted in-person intercept surveys (using hired local interviewers on iPads), supplemented with email and panel work and with lodging-platform and agency data for occupancy estimates. He said the team collected about 750 surveys for the quarter, which yields a reported margin of error in the +/-3 to 4 percent range; he noted the county switched vendors earlier in the year so direct comparisons to prior-year figures are not yet available but will be possible after a full year of consistent data collection.

Board members asked for additional detail on sample coverage, inclusion of Smith Travel Research or STR-type data and the potential to use geofencing for event-level analysis; staff said they use a multimodal approach and will discuss vendor options and periodic supplemental geofencing for special events when needed.

Lewis closed by noting the full report is available with staff and that future quarterly reporting will be presented on a July September cadence.