Anna Maria Island hits the big time

Monday, January 5, 2009

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Anna Maria Island has experienced a mini-boom of visitors since a Dec. 12 article appeared in USA Today.

MANATEE COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- One of the Bay area's best kept secrets is suddenly not so hush-hush.

Travelers from across the U.S. and throughout the world are discovering Anna Maria Island in Manatee County.

Officials at the island's chamber of commerce said it's the beaches that usually attract people here but a recent USA Today story about the island has boosted its profile.

Chamber workers have received hundreds of emails and more phone calls than normal since the Dec. 12 article ran in the national newspaper. Described as a slice of old Florida with no chain hotels, crowds or high rises, Anna Maria was featured as an ideal place to visit.

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"From one day to the next, the spike in the number of unique visits that came to the chamber went up 311 percent," said David Teitelbaum, the director of the Anna Maria Chamber of Commerce. "Then new visits were up 280 percent. Search traffic was up 240 percent."

Teitelbaum said the department has even brought in extra volunteers to handle all the phone calls.

He said several of the resorts on the island sold out during Christmas week and many vacations have already been booked for 2009.