Visit Sarasota County Receives Prestigious Award

For the eighth year in a row, Visit Sarasota County (VSC) has been presented with ConventionSouth’s Annual Readers’ Choice Award. VSC will be featured as an award recipient in the December 2023 Awards issue of ConventionSouth magazine, the national resource for planning events in the South.  

“We are honored to be recognized for the eighth time for the Readers’ Choice Award,” said Kelly Defebo, CMP, Director of Sales & Marketing for VSC. “We look forward to continue providing quality meeting services to meeting planners looking to host their next meeting in beautiful Sarasota County.”  

VSC is among 446 convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), meeting facilities, hotels and unique venues located across the South to receive this year’s Readers’ Choice Award. Throughout the year, meeting professionals nominate the meeting sites they believe provide exemplary services for group events. The nominated sites are then compiled onto an online ballot where meeting professionals and fans are asked to vote for the best of the best.  

About Sarasota County

Situated on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Sarasota County welcomes more than 2.7 million visitors annually. Within its 725 square miles, the county serves up a diverse menu of cultural and recreational activities and attractions, including award-winning dining, world-class fine arts and performing arts, professional and amateur sports and the area’s circus heritage. Vacationers can enjoy city life in downtown Sarasota, revisit old Florida in Englewood and Venice, enjoy some of the best beaches in the U.S. on Siesta Key and Longboat Key, or play in North Port’s many parks and waterways. Sarasota County is perhaps best known for its 35 miles of pristine coastline in addition to 6 barrier islands, delivering options for beach getaways that are unrivaled almost anywhere else in the U.S., including Siesta Beach, annually rated as one of the best beaches in the U.S. and the world by TripAdvisor.  

With 37 meeting hotels, 40 special indoor and outdoor event venues and 110,000 square feet of meeting space, Sarasota is an ideal destination for small groups. The Hyatt Regency offers the most guest rooms, with 294, while the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota offers the largest meeting space at 26,000 square feet. Small groups may opt for the destination’s smallest meeting hotel and one of its newest, the Sarasota Modern Hotel with 89 guest rooms and 1,200 square feet of meeting space.  

To learn more, visit Visit Sarasota. Connect via Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.