Siesta Key, the Little Village with the Big Comeback
On the the west coast of Florida near the city of Sarasota, a tiny town is weathering the pandemic with patience.
After having survived countless hurricanes and tropical storms, the residents of Siesta Key Village thought they were ready for anything Mother Nature could throw at them. But what they weren’t ready for was the storm of a lifetime: the global COVID-19 pandemic. Yet this small community came together to overcome this daunting hurdle.
The small village, which is no larger than 2.4 square miles of land, sits quietly on the west coast of Florida just outside the city of Sarasota. What most people are unaware of is that this village is home to the number one beach in America according to TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice awards. This achievement attracts a wide variety of tourists hailing from across North America, parts of Europe and even native Floridians. The tourists come in flocks to enjoy this hidden gem that Florida has to offer — that is, until the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact from the pandemic echoed through tourist towns like this one.
December through the end of April marks the “season” for Siesta Key, where the steady influx of tourists keeps the village afloat until the same time next year. According to Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce, it is estimated that around $1.5 billion is made from just the tourism market in this area. Under normal circumstances, everyone in the area gets a piece of the tourism pie as income. However, the restaurants and bars that are sprinkled across the island shut their doors in mid-March due to the lockdown, leaving many of the local residents and workers without enough time to save up the money they need for the rest of the year.
Restaurants that usually compete for the tourists’ business worked together, the local government offered help, and the community itself expressed understanding. Local restaurants collaborated their opening and closing times to balance the amount of visitors to the key when heavier restrictions were imposed. Sarasota County instituted The Sarasota County Coronavirus Relief Fund (CARES) grant which allocated $18.9 million to help small businesses that were struggling during the pandemic.
Kristin Hale, The General Manager at Siesta Key Oyster Bar (S.K.O.B.) discussed the struggle that she and her employees experienced.
“It’s been a whirlwind, initially when we had to close for pretty much a month and half; obviously it was a struggle financially. And when you reopen, you’re concerned about the safety of your staff and guests, extra measures for sanitization, even retaining staff at that point… We were very lucky to have retained 90% of our staff while we were furloughed for that [time].”
A number of small businesses were also subjected to the same hardships that S.K.O.B. faced. Their futures were thrust into uncertainty due to closing their doors in the middle of the main tourist season on the key. However, their struggles were not left unheard. Sarasota County’s CARES grant helped these small businesses overcome the expenses that they faced during this time.
That was nine months ago, and as Florida moved into phase three of the state’s reopening last month, local families and tourists walked the streets once again. Businesses on the key are overjoyed about this recent turn of events.
“There’s not supposed to be anybody in these restaurants [mid-November]” exclaimed Timothy King, a manager at The Daiquiri Deck Siesta Village, as his restaurant sat full of smiling and joyful families. This season is their dead season. Around November, Siesta Key is primarily visited by locals and other Florida natives coming to the key and beaches here when the weather permits.
King continued on to say that this was all due to how the rental agencies and the hotels handled cancelations and reservation changes for their guests, “They didn’t refund everybody’s money, they pushed them to a later time.”
This effectively shifted the influx of tourists that would have arrived on the key back in March and April to late-October and mid-November. This influx of tourists into the slow season gives the businesses on the key an opportunity to make back some of the money that they lost during the shutdown.
The travel restrictions that were imposed on the United States impacted the key drastically as well. The Key is a second home to a number of what locals like to call “snowbirds.” These snowbirds hail from Canada and the Northeastern region of the United States.
A significant portion of properties found on the key are privately owned and often rented out to tourists through rental management organizations.
“Typically, this is the slowest time of the year… it is more of a local crowd” expressed Kody Gruber, Senior Rental Manager at Tropical Sands Accommodations (TSA).
However, Gruber explained “Everybody was just wanting to get out of their house, wanting to travel, wanting to escape the torture of being locked down in their homes for the amount of time that they were. [Families] are now wanting to get out, get some fresh air and enjoy the beach for a few days.” Everyone is looking for a little escape, and Siesta Key is the perfect place for a change of scenery for a few days. TSA has over 600 rental properties that they manage for homeowners.
Fear of spreading COVID-19 is still a worry that the community faces. Ann Frescura, the Executive Director at Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce, spoke of how the community is adapting to overcome the obstacles they still face, while limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Community events like the Sandy Claws Beach Run were completely modified to operate safely in the midst of the pandemic. The event was held virtually, allowing many more participants to join in and raise money for Sarasota County’s Summer Camp Scholarship Fund (Registration closes Nov. 20), as well as take part of the event on their own time. The event began Saturday, Dec. 12.
Some traditions are still being held on schedule. For instance, the Siesta Key Tree Lighting still took place on Saturday Nov. 28, and was still held at the gazebo in the middle of the village.
Hope is not lost for this gulf-side village. The Siesta Key Welcome Center states that the Sept. 2020 visitor numbers showed a 2.8% increase from 2019, and occupancy was up 1.8% as well as a visitor spending increase of 5.5% since 2019.
These numbers show a resurgence of interest in the area and that people are ready and trusting to go out into the world once more. Most have been longing for the return of what was considered normal once again. The small village welcomes with open doors the return of locals and tourists alike.
