After five sporting events were allocated funds in March, Marion County tourism officials have shifted their focus from land to water.
The Marion County Tourism Development Council met Thursday to discuss funding for three proposed swimming events. The three events are projected to generate a little under $5 million in tourism revenues for Marion County.
With the March 2022 opening of the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training (FAST) facility in Ocala, the city has been a hub for competitions. The council has taken advantage of the facility, re-signing the Florida Swimming 14 or under and 15 or older championships to three-year deals. They also added a new event, FSPA High School Invitational Swimming and Diving Meet, for a one-year, $6,000 deal. In total, the council allocated $156,000 toward the three events.
“Any time there is a world-class facility, people are coming far and wide to come here,” said Council Chairman Jeff Bailey. “Serious swimmers will be introduced to our community for the first time with these events, and hopefully want to come back later for more social reasons.”
The council is following its practice of funding youth sporting events, which Bailey explains are great for bringing entire families into the county. The Florida Swimming 14u championships were allotted $90,000 for three annual events, due to its projected 84% return on investment, and the 15 received $60,000 for three years.
“The event is four days with 90% of families staying overnight. We anticipate 2,000 room nights,” Marion County group sales supervisor Corry Locke explained. “It's not just hotels people are spending money at. They have to go out to eat, go to Walmart, fill up on gas.”
Also discussed at the meeting was a marketing plan making Marion County residents more aware of what the council is doing. Belleview City Commissioner Ron Livsey expressed concerns that the public does not know about the positive economic impacts that events like swimming competitions bring to the county. He emphasized an awareness campaign on the benefits of tourism with the rapid growth of Ocala.
“It is hard to bring people back if they [Marion County residents] don’t want them here,” Livsey said. “We are bringing in over $4 million in sales to Marion County with these swimming events. A lot of people don’t know what we do here.”
With FAST, Bailey thinks more swimming events will want to migrate to Ocala, bringing in more revenue for the county. He says even though the council has funds from occupancy taxes, the money cannot be spent toward anything taxpayers wish. He tells skeptics the swimming events are essential for Marion County tourism.
“The laws are very specific on where money can go to,” Bailey said. “We spend money on events that bring in visitors, which increases the tax base for everyone.”