Record-setting March, April help ease Lee tourism officials' fears of a slowdown

After months of fears about a slowdown in the tourist season, the Lee County Tourist Development Council received some welcome news Friday: March and April combined were the best months ever for bed tax collections in the county.

April alone brought in more than $1.3 million in bed taxes, up 29 percent from the same time last year, reported D.T. Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. Bed taxes are fees charged on all hotel, motel and short-term lodging in the county.

"I was floored. It brought us right in line for the year," Minich said. "It was very surprising. I looked at St. Pete just to compare to see if everyone was up. They were up 9 percent, but certainly not double digits."

The $1.3 million figure doesn't include the additional two percent tax that was recently added to tourist tax collections. Total tax collections for April were more than $2.2 million.

Sports tourism saw a similarly spectacular month in April, with 5,270 room nights sold to sports-events visitors. It was one of the best months ever, according to Jeff Mielke, executive director of the Lee County Sports Authority.

With an estimated 3,600 participants and 6,300 spectators visiting the area, sports tourism had a total economic impact of $2.67 million in April, including a direct impact of $1.6 million.

The total impact of tourism for April was $381 million, up 9.3 percent, and $1.5 billion for the year, up 7.8 percent.

Contributing to the increases were higher average daily rates for hotels and resorts, even though the total number of visitors didn't grow significantly.

Walter Klages, the bureau's data analyst, said about 319,600 visitors came to the county in April 2006, up only slightly from the previous April, while overall occupancy actually fell 1.6 percent. Room rates, though, were up about 14.3 percent.

But the numbers aren't all good. The rising room rates could have a long-term "vampire effect" and might discourage people from coming back, Klages said.

"Satisfaction levels with the destination are high, but the rates can make you bleed down the road," he said. "And the windy season is affecting us. The outlook is still positive but it is much less so than this time last year."

The beginning of what is expected to be an active hurricane season is affecting everything from business decisions to travel decisions, he said. It is also shrinking the travel season.

"No matter where you step, where you go, people are being exposed to all these storms that are going to come," Klages said.

Worry about a shorter tourist season is showing up in the numbers as well. Fewer hotels, motels and condominiums are expecting the same level or higher when it comes to reservations for the next three months as compared to last year.

Another reason for concern is the recent red algae outbreaks reported in several areas of the county. The outbreaks weren't as great in volume or severe as ones seen at the end of 2003, said Tamara Pigott, deputy director in charge of administration and beach and shoreline services, but they are still a cause for concern.

The visitor bureau already has monitoring programs in place as well as emergency cleanup money, but for now it looks like recent rains and winds have pushed the unsightly, smelly algae off the coast and away from the county's beaches, Minich said.

He heard some complaints from resorts, particularly on Sanibel Island.

"That was bad, though there were no early check-outs," Minich said. "Since it was a relatively short outbreak we are hoping it won't have any long-term impacts."

Anything that affects tourism season is an issue of concern, he said.

"Season is to us what Christmas is to retailers," Minich said. "It is our bread and butter and we are always worried about season. We came out just fine this year but we will be taking a long hard look at what we need to do for the '07 season."