The Bradenton Herald, Fla., Dana Sanchez column.

By Dana Sanchez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 5--TOURISM REMAINS A GROWING BUSINESS IN MANATEE: Tourists accounted for 12.5 percent of the sales tax paid in Manatee County in 2003.

Businesses dependent on tourism employed 6,100 Manatee County residents with an added 4,700 jobs created indirectly as a result of tourism, according to research prepared for the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau by Mid-Florida Marketing & Research Inc.

With the threat of more active hurricane seasons causing jitters about tourism next summer and in summers to come, the bureau plans to use data collected from focus …