Guest Correspondence

SRQ DAILY SATURDAY PERSPECTIVES EDITION

SATURDAY AUG 9, 2025 |

Pictured: Kidd Kraddick Morning Show crew with Nik Wallenda. Provided photo.

Between your summer bops on the Billboard Hot 100 and true crime podcast binges, you may have heard Sarasota County mentioned over your radio these past few weeks. If you’re a devoted listener to The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show – one of the most listened to in America – then you certainly heard many of our local attractions, properties, restaurants, and businesses name dropped on-air. 

That’s because our team at Visit Sarasota County partnered with VISIT FLORIDA, our statewide counterpart, to bring this morning show to our shores. Quite literally, as the “KiddNation” broadcasted LIVE from the new Cirque St. Armands Beachside hotel, within view of Lido Beach for every conversation.  

While the crew was in town for their annual KiddNation Family Vacation special broadcast, they didn’t stay behind the mic the entire time. In between their LIVE broadcasts from July 28 to August 1, the team had free time to be a tourist, visiting local businesses and sharing their experiences on-air, online, and with their millions of followers on social media. 

Like most of our Familiarization Tours – which we in the industry endearingly call “FAMs” – the itinerary was curated to match the interests of the Kidd Kraddick crew. Their adventures included a trolley tour with Discover Sarasota Tours and a visit to The Ringling, where local legend Nik Wallenda made a surprise appearance at the Circus Museum to coach them through how to walk the high wire. 

Other highlights included a trampoline class at The Circus Arts Conservatory, an afternoon at Sarasota Jungle Gardens, a culinary tour of Downtown Sarasota, a resort day at Lido Beach Resort, a sunset boat cruise with High Tide Tiki Tours, an e-bike tour through Myakka River State Park, and dining experiences ranging from Siesta Key Oyster Bar to O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill. 

The morning show even gave listeners a chance to win vacations to experience this very same itinerary each morning, promotions that just wrapped up yesterday. If you missed the broadcasts, you can listen at www.kiddnation.com/sarasota-family-vacation-2025/.

While this is the first time the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show chose us as their broadcast destination, hosting top-tier media is well within our wheelhouse. Each year, our PR and Sales teams welcome up to 250 travel writers from various media outlets, including print, online, and radio, to feature local gems and our destination as a whole. These media placements generate hundreds of millions of impressions, which in turn capture the attention and imagination of potential vacationers, both near and far. 

You may ask, why radio? If so, you may be surprised to hear that radio remains as relevant as ever, especially with new ways to stream. According to Nielsen Media Research, eight-in-ten Americans ages 12 and older listen to radio weekly – staying remarkably consistent amidst a media landscape in flux. The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show underscores radio’s media muscle, as its programming reaches 2.6 million listeners across 70 markets daily. 

This media opportunity is the latest collaboration between our tourism bureau and VISIT FLORIDA – the Sunshine State’s official destination marketing organization charged with protecting and promoting its $142 billion vacation brand through global marketing, public relations and travel trade efforts. Case in point, the show’s over 200 minutes of dedicated airtime and 170 social media posts promoting the destination already has trickled into 50 million impressions and more than $5.4 million in broadcast media value. This kind of national exposure is incredibly valuable, particularly during the slower summer when strategic promotion helps sustain our tourism economy. 

Thanks to VISIT FLORIDA’s support and the enthusiasm from the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show team and our local businesses, Sarasota’s not only hit national airwaves, but we also made sure future travelers were tuned in and ready to experience all our destination has to offer, with open hearts…and ears. 

Erin Duggan is President & CEO of Visit Sarasota County.

Pictured: Kidd Kraddick Morning Show crew with Nik Wallenda. Provided photo.