ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. — Tourism in Manatee County brought in a record-breaking $1,056,770,000 in 2019.
"We’ve traveled to other places and we just find that we keep coming back here, it’s beautiful," said Gail Tomblin-Murphy, visiting from Canada.
She and her family are visiting again in May. They’re bringing more people and plan to bring them to Ginny's & Jane E’s, an island staple.
"We’re busy, we’re busy all the time. This is no longer a seasonal business," said Paul Foster, Ginny's & Jane E’s owner.
Businesses are thriving on Anna Maria Island. More than $1 billion came into Manatee County in tourism dollars last year.
Anna Maria Oyster Bar says it could be that people were happy red tide was gone.
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"You could tell people just felt good again. They were getting out more. I mean, our sales went up six percent which is phenomenal," said John Horne, Anna Maria Oyster Bar owner.
Anne Wittine of Research Data Services Inc. presented a 2019 visitor profile to the Manatee County Tourist Development Council this month.
They found that the number of visitors in 2019 was 772,500, up from 715,400 in 2018.
