Southwest.

Plenty is new in classy and culturally rich Sarasota, where more than 30 art galleries and professional symphony, ballet, and opera companies offer lots of post-meeting entertainment options. One of the area's largest meetings hotel, The Resort at Longboat Key Club, recently completed $8 million of improvements to its 155 suites. Located on a barrier island just off the coast of Sarasota, the resort offers 7,000 square feet of meeting space, 45 holes of golf, 38 Har-Tru tennis courts, and a fitness center with massage and facial therapy.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Also new is the Ritz Carlton Sarasota, a luxurious resort overlooking Sarasota Bay that offers 266 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space. Other hotels with substantial meeting facilities include the 297-room Hyatt Sarasota with 20,000 square feet of meeting space and the 234-room Longboat Key Colony Beach & Tennis Resort with 7,000 square feet of meeting space. The Sarasota area offers 14,500 guest accommodations overall.

Located just north of downtown Bradenton on the banks of the scenic Manatee River is the Manatee Convention Center. The center, which features a 32,400-square-foot exhibit hall and a 15,000-square-foot conference center, has more than 5,000 guest rooms nearby.

The lovely mainland and island communities that make up Lee Island Coast have long been known as a shelling paradise with approximately 400 species of seashells found along the 50-plus miles of sandy beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Recognized as among the best U.S. kayaking destinations by Paddler and Canoe & Kayak magazines, the Lee Island Coast communities recently opened the first 40 miles of a new paddling trail that weaves its way past world renowned wildliferefuges and historical sites between Imperial River in Bonita Springs and Punta Rassa in Fort Myers.

Back on the beach, the Pink Shell Beach Resort & Spa completed a multimillion-dollar project in March that doubled its meeting space and added a spa, guest rooms, and an outdoor function space with Gulf of Mexico views. The facilities are housed in the new White Sand Villas, a nine-story building with 92 one-and two-bedroom villas, meeting space, and a 6,000-square-foot spa with 12 treatment rooms. With the expansion, the Pink Shell now offers more than 5,500 square feet of meeting space and more than 200 guest rooms.

Last year, the 407-unit Sanibel Harbor Resort & Spa in Fort Myers completed refurbishing its 40,000-square-foot spa and 240 hotel rooms and suites. The resort debuted a 45,000-square-foot conference center in 2000. The 'Tween Waters Inn on Captiva Island also recently added a 900-square-foot meeting room that overlooks its marina.

Perhaps the area's biggest news is the $368 million expansion at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Scheduled for completion in 2005, the project will create a 28-gate midfield terminal that will replace an existing, 17-gate terminal. Designed for future expansion of up to 65 gates, the new terminal certainly will enhance the airport's current flight schedule, which includes nonstop service to more than 20 cities.

Upscale is perhaps the best way to describe Naples and Marco Island, where some of Florida's most luxurious resorts are located. Among them are the 395-room Registry Resort Naples, which recently completed a $30 million upgrade that enlarged meeting space and guest room bathrooms, and the nearby Ritz-Carlton Naples Golf Resort with 295 guest rooms and meeting facilities for more than 700 people.

Completed last summer was a $43 million renovation of the Marco Island Marriott Resort & Golf Club, which offers 727 guest rooms, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, and a new, 24,000-square-foot spa. Marco Island's Radisson Suite Beach Resort also opened a new spa last summer following a $45 million renovation.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]