Visitors to Lee County are turning to local businesses and restaurants to support the area after Southwest Florida International Airport released numbers showing a change in tourism.
Donna Conger, of Plymouth, Michigan, is renting a house in Venice in Sarasota County and is visiting Fort Myers for the week.
“We're snowbirds,” Conger said. “We came to Fort Myers today to go to the Edison Museum with my brother, who lives here in South Venice. We had to come to the Shell Factory because I was here probably 15 years ago.”
During February, 967,416 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport in Lee County. This was a decrease of 16 percent compared to February 2022, according to a press release.
“We’re working hard to ensure potential visitors are aware of the diverse offerings of our destination,” Lee County Public Information Officer Betsy Clayton said. “We’re doing this through traditional means like advertising in target markets, social media, and working closely with our partners to ensure our messaging is current and accurate.”
Louis Florek drove to Fort Myers from Pennsylvania to visit friends. Florek has turned to local shopping centers and restaurants for activities to keep busy.
“It helps them stay in business so that they can continue and then recover,” Florek said. "We like to support small businesses. It's very important. We do that back home in Pennsylvania, too.”
Unlike Florek's friends putting him up, The Crowne Plaza at Bell Tower Shops incentivizes bigger parties to stay with them by offering group discounts and special rates.
“We do cater to a lot of groups that come down from all over the country that stay with us, whether it be local theater troupes, people that might be performing at the Barbra B. Mann,” Crowne Plaza Guest Services Manager Megan Soltis said.
Soltis said that the Crowne Plaza brings a lot of tourism to Southwest Florida because of these discounts.
According to Clayton, 9,825 hotel rooms are open, just under 69 percent of the pre-Ian room count, as of March 24.
“We remain optimistic about tourism,” Clayton said. “We’re realistic about post-storm conditions in parts of the community and are feeling very positive about how quickly the community is rebuilding and restoring many of our visitors’ favorite businesses while also working to create new experiences for guests.”
During October through December of 2022, the Fort Myers area hosted over 633,000 visitors who spent an estimated $666 million while visiting– a 30.6 percent decrease in spending year-over-year, according to a February report from the Visitor and Convention Bureau.
“We are back on the market in a much bigger way,” Brian Ososky with the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau said. “We are targeting our loyalists, yes, but also our target personas who have shown us a propensity to travel. They’re pretty much ready to go.”
RSW served 10.3 million passengers in 2022 and is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic. The airport did see a 26 percent decrease in flight passengers after Hurricane Ian compared to last fall.
This story was produced by Democracy Watch, a news service provided by Florida Gulf Coast University journalism students. The reporter can be reached at rjhazel4249@eagle.fgcu.edu