Collier County’s tourism tax collections are up 13.29% this fiscal year, with $38.16 million collected, edging toward eclipsing last fiscal year’s total of $41 million.
For May, the latest data available, $4,267,727 in tourist taxes from hotels, motels, Realtors, apartments, condos and single-family homes was collected, compared with $4,046,154 in May 2023, a 5.47% increase.
“The economic impact of tourism is currently up 12.8% so far fiscal year to date, with four months left in the fiscal year,” Jay Tusa, tourism director for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau, said during a county Tourist Development Council meeting July 15. He added that visitors’ direct spending increased 14.1% in May, while the total economic impact of tourism jumped 13.9%.
The Midwest and Northeast continue to be the main regions for out-of-state visitors, accounting for nearly half of May’s visitors, and international travelers, including top players Canada, Germany and the U.K., represented 17%.
“You can see the importance of that international visitation to Collier County,” Tusa said.
Tourism data shows $22.94 million was collected from hotels and motels this fiscal year, compared with $4.47 million from Realtors and $10.36 million from apartments, condos and single-family homes. Broken down by area, $2.42 million was collected in unincorporated Collier County, $1.1 million from Marco Island, $710,415 from the city of Naples, $23,699 from Everglades City and $5,790 from Immokalee.
The occupancy rate for hotels and motels increased 4.3% compared with May 2023, largely due to an increase of 13.5% year over year, which resulted in revenue per-available-room reaching $175, up from $148 last May.
Joseph St. Germain, president of Downs & St. Germain Research, noted there was a slight decrease in hotel occupancy and vacation rentals because more units were available due to luxury properties opening after Hurricane Ian renovations. As a result, he said, visitors spent more room-nights here.
“For that reason, I think we’ve seen a more traditional visitor come in May of 2024,” St. Germain said of leisure visitors vacationing with families and more couples. “It looks like a lot of them came back because we saw increases in income, we saw increases in international visitation, which I know is a national trend that … we’re continuing to see.”
Canada has mostly held steady, with much of the increase in international visitors coming from Europe, he said, adding that his firm studied international visitation and found that more tourists are traveling as couples.
“When we asked their sentiments for their first trip back to the U.S. post pandemic, they were looking for a kind of a treat-yourself kind of trip where you’re spending a little bit more money because it’s been a while since they came back across,” he said, adding, “Frankly, this is a great destination for that.”
In other business, the TDC agreed the county derives a significant return on investment from Visit Florida, the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, and should continue the partnership with a $113,000 tourism-tax fund investment, down from $150,000 last year.
