How is Sunseeker Resort impacting Port Charlotte?

What is a resort that saw five years of delays, pushback and more doing to the community that it sits in?

On Friday, we learned that the Sunseeker Resort is impacting spots nearby in ways we were not expecting.

Here on WINK, we told you that Allegiant revealed a $30 million loss for the year because of pre-opening costs, hinting that they might be off to a slow start.

• READ MORE: Is Sunseeker Resort losing money?

However, when we posted that story on Facebook, we were flooded with comments from people who visited and people from here who have stayed at the Sunseeker, all saying that they loved staying there.

That’s a change from earlier this week when WINK News told us that some people were not fans of the resort.

We talked to the owner of Pioneer Pizza down the road, and he said he’s seeing more people with the words Sunseeker Resort on their shirts and staff members coming in for a drink or some food. We got a lot of reaction when we first reported this story earlier this week, and many people are glad this resort is here.

We broke down some data from Allegiants’ recent report about how the resort lost $30 million because of pre-opening costs, hurricanes and the pandemic. We also told you how people may be scared off because they said it was pricey.

But when we spoke to the tourism department in Charlotte County, they told us, “Tourism tax dollars have increased, not just from the opening of Sunseeker, but also from the reopening and renovations of other great properties within our destination.”

As for how business is going for the Sunseeker Resort, they told us no one was available at this
time to speak with us.

We do know that during 2022 and 2023, the company recorded losses of $52 million and $26 million, respectively; some of this was recoverable through insurance, and revenue is generated now.