It's beginning to look a lot like season

Everywhere you look, there are more cars and more out-of-state plates on the road, signaling the return of winter residents and the early start of a season that's expected to be the strongest in two years.

The winter tourists will soon be arriving. And there should be more of them this year, thanks in part to a stronger national economy.

"Personally I'm very confident we'll have a very good season," said Jose Aragon, owner of Jose Aragon Jewelers on Third Street South in Naples and president of the Third Street Merchants' Association. "I see more traffic. I see more enthusiasm in people."

Consumer confidence is up across the country, the stock market has improved and there are signs that more people are "getting back to normal," said Tammie Nemecek, executive director of the Economic Development Council in Collier County. For those reasons it should be a solid season in Southwest Florida, she said.

"I think it's a renewal of our economy," Nemecek said.

Since 2001, tourist traffic and spending have suffered in the winter months in Southwest Florida for myriad reasons. For the first six months of 2002 and 2003, Collier County hotels were down $36 million from pre-9-11 revenues, based on tourist tax collections. A weak economy, the twists and turns of the stock market and the aftereffects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks put a damper on the last two seasons.

It didn't help that the United States was threatening to go to war with Iraq as season got under way last year. And then, of course, there was the colder-than-usual weather in Southwest Florida last winter.

Despite those troubles, tourism remains a leading industry in Southwest Florida.

In Lee County, some 36,000 people work in some facet of tourism. In Collier County, the tourism industry provides more than 17,000 direct jobs and it had an $860 million impact on the county's economy last year.

Looking up

There are signs that this season will be better than the last two. The chilly weather that's already hit the Northern states this year is bringing some seasonal residents here early. Also, the weather has prompted more people to call and book vacations this winter.

"The telephones have been picking up," said D.T. Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. "We've been getting a lot more inquiries."

Traffic has been up at Southwest Florida International Airport every month this year, compared with the same months last year. That makes people like Minich and Jack Wert, the executive director of the Greater Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, bullish about season, too.

Passenger numbers at the airport have continued to break records after the short lull that followed the terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Total passenger traffic at the airport dropped from 261,012 in September 2000 to 197,561 during the month of the attacks. In September, passenger traffic rose to 283,411, a 15 percent increase compared with the same month last year.

Most tourists come to Southwest Florida between January and May. During those same months, part-time residents are here to enjoy Florida's warmer weather. Seasonal residents start arriving sooner, typically in November.

At the peak of season this March, Collier County's population is expected to swell by about a third to more than 400,000. In April, the county's population will drop back to about 307,000, with the departure of seasonal residents, said Ken Sanford, research manager for the Economic Development Council of Collier County.

About 500,000 tourists are expected to visit Collier County from January to March -- a number comparable to those months in 2000, Wert said.

In 2001, the county saw nearly 513,000 tourists from January to March. In 2002, that number dropped to about 496,000 and last year it dipped to about 479,000. But those raw numbers don't convey the hit to the industry. Tourist tax collections for the January to May 2003 season were down 10 percent below pre 9-11 levels because room rates were lower and people were spending less.

Welcome news

An upturn in visitor numbers would be welcome news for the local still-struggling tourism industry.

In 2001, the average occupancy rate for the year dropped 5.3 percent in Collier County to 60.9 percent. Lee County saw a bigger decline of 7.1 percent, with the average occupancy rate falling to 58.8 percent, according to statistics compiled by Smith Travel Research.

Last year, the average hotel room occupancy rate dropped to 57.2 percent in Collier County, a 6.4 percent decline from the previous year, according to Smith Travel Research. In Lee, the average occupancy rate fell to 55.8 percent, a 5.6 decrease from 2001 levels.

This year, a weak economy and the war with Iraq have posed some challenges for the tourism industry. However, many hoteliers reported a strong summer and they seem confident a recovery is in sight.

The EDC's Nemecek attributes the increased outlook for season in part to the efforts of Wert, the executive director of the Greater Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, and his staff to promote Collier County over the last six months.

Collier County started the bureau last year, and the staff has already grown to five people and now includes a full-time public relations manager, whose job is to encourage travel to the county. The bureau has focused on visiting trade shows. This week, Wert and representatives from eight Collier hotels are at the World Travel Market in London, the second largest trade tourism show in the world.

"They are looking for a strong last quarter," Wert said of local hoteliers. "October looked good, and they are anticipating November and December being good as well."

In September, collections from Collier County's 3 percent tax on hotel stays and other short-term lodging were about $340,000, up almost 9 percent over the same month a year ago and about the same as September 2000.

The collections have been higher almost every month this year than they were last year in Collier County. About $7.6 million in tourist taxes have been collected this year. Year to date, the collections are up about $96,000 over last year.

Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau, said he expects Lee County's bed tax collections to be up 4 to 5 percent over last year. In August, they reached about $10.8 million.

Between January and August, Lee County attracted nearly 1.6 million visitors. That was up 2.1 percent over the same months last year. In August, the county saw a 5.4 increase in visitors.

Lee County hotels are reporting strong advance bookings for the season, Minich said.

"I'm hearing good things from the hotels," he said. "I'm hearing good things domestically. I'm hearing good things internationally, especially since they've had a little bit of cold weather up North."

He cautioned, however, that it is harder to predict how season will go because bookings are still coming in on shorter notice -- a trend that has surfaced in recent years.

Brian Rowley, director of marketing for the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Estero, said after an OK summer the hotel is seeing a lot of group business now. He's predicting a great 2004 with a double-digit increase in occupancy over 2003 for the Hyatt.

"We are considerably ahead of pace from where we were last year," he said.

The traditionally slow summer months of July, August and September were the strongest in history for both The Registry Resort and Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples. Visitors from the United Kingdom helped generate record bookings this summer, said Kerry Mitruska, area director of sales and marketing for the two hotels.

The Registry alone saw a 28 percent increase in bookings from July to September, compared with the same months a year ago. That was 5,130 more room nights than in 2002.

Also, The Registry completed a $30 million renovation in February, which helped draw more guests this summer, Mitruska said. The renovation included improvements to the rooms, the pool, the beachside restaurant and meeting space.

Mitruska said he's expecting a strong season and that he's noticed many part-time residents who are members of the Premier Club are back in town. The private club allows members to use amenities at the Edgewater and Registry hotels and to play golf at the Naples Grande Golf Club.

Scott Shoenberger, managing director for LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort in North Naples, said bookings for groups this year are 17 percent ahead of last year. Bookings are also up for tourists this year and he predicts a 12 percent increase in business between the months of January and April based on advance bookings.

"It all looks pretty favorable," Shoenberger said. "There is a tremendous amount of activity in the pipeline. There are still a lot of shoppers out there -- people who are still looking to shop for deals where possible."

Getting ready

Hoteliers, restaurant owners, retailers and other merchants have already started to hire more people for the busy winter season.

The Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board's career and service centers, where many local employers go to search for employees, have been noticeably busier the last few months. Employers are posting more jobs and conducting more interviews at the centers, said Jim Wall, a career specialist with the Southwest Florida Workforce Development Board.

Recruiting for the season started in late September, he said.

Southwest Florida is poised for a quick recovery because it hasn't seen the same kind of economic downturn that many other parts of the country have in the last few years, Wall said.

"What I think we are seeing now is that employers are starting to fill some of the middle management type positions that were lost in the last couple years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks," he said.

Over the next few months, The Registry Resort and the Edgewater Beach Hotel are looking to fill between 50 and 70 jobs. Some of the openings are for managers, who will stay on year-round. However, many of the jobs are for seasonal workers, Mitruska said.

This season the two Ritz-Carltons in Naples are expected to add about 200 people. That will increase the work force by about 15 percent, said Ed Staros, vice president and managing director of The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples.

Recruitment starts before Labor Day every year, and some seasonal workers will come from other Ritz-Carltons in the state, he said.

Positions will be added across the board for the season at the two hotels. That will include housekeepers, waiters, chefs and staff for other guest services, Staros said.

He said season last year was the second best in history for The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, the upscale beachfront resort that's been open for 18 years. Staros expects an excellent season again this year at both Ritz hotels, which have seemed to buck the trend in Southwest Florida since the terrorist attacks.

"We are exactly where we are supposed to be right now, a month before season starts," he said. "It's not anything better or worse than the past. It's just normal."

LaPlaya plans to hire between 70 and 80 people this season.

"We anticipate being fully staffed by the middle of December," Shoenberger said. "That way we can have staff in for training."

LaPlaya is already full for almost the entire month of January, he said.

WCI Communities Inc., a Bonita Springs-based developer of upscale residential communities, is looking to hire more people this season than it did the last two seasons, said Kathy Rossi, regional recruiter.

WCI will open spas at its Tiburon community in North Naples and at The Colony, another upscale development in Bonita Springs. The private spas will be open to people who are club members in their communities and to guests of The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

Also, WCI is developing Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club off Collier Boulevard and the clubhouse is expected to open in January, making more jobs available at the company.

Typically, WCI's work force grows by 100 to 125 people in season, Rossi said. Seasonal positions include servers for country clubs, pro shop staff, bartenders, cooks and hostesses.

"A lot of people we have come back year after year," she said. "We don't necessarily recruit to fill all those positions."

Rossi said she's noticed seasonal residents returning to WCI's communities already. To accommodate them, the clubhouses have started to extend their hours for lunch and dinner.

Michael Reagen, president of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, said his impression from the members he's talked to is that this season will be a good one for local businesses -- from restaurants and hotels to retailers.

"Perception is so critically important," he said. "If people feel good and feel bullish, then they are going to come and they are going to spend. One gets a little bit of a sense of that, though obviously the news of our soldiers getting killed every day dampens things."