But Davenport, who began her career in hospitality nearly 20 years ago with the Lee County VCB before moving on to senior management positions with The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and LXR Luxury Resorts, is undaunted in her optimism.

We asked her about some of those challenges and how the VCB is taking them on.

What trends do you see emerging in local tourism?
Going green. That’s been a very big push. When meeting planners are looking at hosting meetings in different areas, they want to know that things are recycled and that water conservation is going on. Even for [state-level] governmental meetings, they want to look at hotels with green certifications first for conferences and meetings.

How are we meeting that in Lee County?
[Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Estero, the Bridgewater Inn in Matlacha and the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fort Myers] are certified with our Florida lodging program for green certification. Several of our hotel partners are looking into going green. We’re really trying to encourage that.

There have been issues with visas and security for international visitors. Is that still a concern, and have those travelers come back?
We’re always perceived as a friendly country once you’re here, but there still seems to be a perception that upon arrival, the new security rules have made it a little tougher for visitors.

There have been a lot of things implemented to address that [including a video welcoming international visitors, which is being shown in airports]. Our airport is looking into purchasing flat-screen TV monitors to put into our international arrival area so that they can play the video.

We’re very optimistic about the international market. [With the weak dollar], I think they can’t afford not to come here. We love international visitors because they tend to travel more during our off-season, which is the summertime. We’ve heard from our partners that our Canadian market for the winter has really been picking up and the 2008 summertime bookings from Germany and the U.K. are looking very good. We’re also seeing some good inquiries out of our emerging markets, [such as] the Netherlands, and out of the French market.

What are Southwest Florida’s biggest competitors?
We compete with other areas within the state with beaches, but also the Caribbean, even as far north as Hilton Head, [S.C.] Not just Lee County but the state of Florida is competing against sunshine destinations like Seychelles or Thailand. There are so many options now, and the world seems so much smaller and it’s easier to travel.

Another big thing is the passport issues that have come up over the past year. Even though a lot of things haven’t changed in the passport requirements for visitors, there’s been confusion.

At the same time, a lot more people now have passports in the United States, because they’re required for some areas in the Caribbean that previously didn’t require passports. Once you get a passport, that opens the world up for you to travel.

What do you anticipate for this season?
We’re anticipating a strong season. We always have a little concern when Easter is earlier in the year—and this year it is in March—but the feedback from many of the lodging partners on Fort Myers Beach is that bookings are coming in strong through mid-April. We are beefing up our advertising and starting some of our advertising and marketing promotions earlier. Our main mission really is to promote the off season, so [we started airing] TV commercials up in the Chicago and the New York areas in February and early March.

Some of our feeder markets, especially the Midwest, are some of the hardest hit by the economy. Are we seeing fewer or different visitors from those areas?
Our visitor profile and the annual income show an affluent customer. If you have to make cuts and don’t go to Europe this year because the dollar doesn’t go very far, you still are going to get away, and I think our destination becomes that perfect destination. With the affluence of our visitors, they’re still going to have money to spend on vacation.

What have been some of the bigger issues and changes in tourism since you’ve been here?
We’ve had some new product come online. A lot of that growth has been along the I-75 corridor. That’s been a very big change for us, to have various levels and categories of properties inland.

Another thing was the Hyatt coming on board back in 2001 and some of the changes that Sanibel Harbor has made. Now the area really offers some great meeting facilities, even some of the smaller properties, such as the Crowne Plaza with its meeting facilities. We’ve always done a great job in promoting the destination for leisure business, but now we are really able to offer another component, and that’s the meetings market.

The meetings and conventions sector took a pummeling after the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. How is it now?
The feedback we’re getting is positive. We just had a meeting with some of our bigger properties and we’ve put some really big initiatives in place. When we moved our bed tax from 3 to 5 percent, we dedicated an advertising budget, which is right around half a million dollars, to the meetings and conventions market. The past year, our goal was to put it out there that we are a meetings destination, not just a leisure destination. It is the most aggressive meetings marketing outreach that we have had. We had a dedicated PR person getting exposure in the meetings trade magazines. We have redesigned our Web site so you can find the properties that have meeting space. We’ve also hired somebody in the [Washington], D.C., market whose focus is on the association meetings market as well as the corporate meetings out of the Northeast. Her presence in the Northeast has been very positive.

Are there other programs and initiatives that the VCB is launching?
We started our Island Treasures tour, which is the RV covered in our print advertising. That RV will travel around the country and attend over 200 consumer trade events throughout the year. We are launching a big sweepstakes this year. People will have the opportunity to log on, answer questions about our destination, and then have an opportunity to win a cash prize of $10,000 [as well as other prizes].

What about incentives for companies that come here for meetings and conventions?
One thing we added to our Web site is the "hot deals" section, so our different meetings properties can go on and load the different promotions they’re doing for meetings. Our partner site [www.leevcb.com] has rules posted about how we can work with different businesses and promote them. It’s not just lodging and attractions. [Fishing charters], restaurants, shops—anything a tourist can benefit from, we look for that opportunity to work with those businesses.

If they don’t meet the guidelines but are interested in getting information from the bureau and the different opportunities we have, they can get on our industry database list [to receive] information.

What do you anticipate as the biggest challenges in the next couple of years?
Global competition is a very big thing. Everybody is fighting for the same people, and there are more [competing] destinations. The partners we have within our industry here in Lee County really work together very strongly as a team. They think about selling this destination first before selling their own businesses, whether it’s a lodging, attraction, whatever. Having that kind of teamwork keeps our destination strong. I really think that’s the biggest asset we have here as far as tourism.