Monthly Tourist Development Council Report to the Industry (06/12/2009)
June 12, 2009
April 2009 statistics
Visitation to The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel was up 7.3 percent from April 2008, having hosted approximately 467,000 visitors during April 2009 with just over 200,000 staying in paid accommodations. The majority of those visitors who stayed in paid accommodations were from within the United States. Average occupancy rates were down slightly from April 2008 (-1.8 percent), while ADR and RevPAR were down slightly more (-5.4 percent ADR and -7.1 percent RevPAR).

April 2009 Occupancy Summary

April 2009 Visitor Origins

Resort tax collection report
The resort tax collection for April 2009 was $2,106,055, a 2.7 percent decrease from April 2008. However, year-to-date performance indicators, continue to reveal that Lee County is performing well and holding its own compared to most other parts of the state. In the key indicator of monthly tourist tax collection, Lee County ranked No. 1 with lowest percentage of change.

Airport News
During April 2009, 834,689 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), an increase of 1.8 percent compared to April 2008. In other airport news, for the first time, Northwest Airlines will offer nonstop flights to LaGuardia beginning in July with five weekly flights, then daily flights starting in August.

TDC recommends alternate funding source for water quality issues
The TDC voted today to recommend moving Beach & Shoreline water quality funding requests to the Lee County Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The recommendation came after discussions that deemed water quality issues were not tourism-specific, but rather a general county matter. The recommendation will be presented to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners at a future meeting and will require approval for finalization.

VCB marketing strategy outlined during strategic discussion and presentation
At today's TDC meeting, VCB Executive Director Suya Davenport presented a strategic business and marketing update for the first two quarters of the fiscal year and projections for the next two quarters.

Davenport identified the factors directly impacting visitation revenues, how these factors have trended over time, and how possible scenarios can lead to the desired business performance goals for the destination.

In comparing year-over-year data for the first quarter of FY08 to the first quarter of FY09, Lee County’s market share of visitors increased 13.1 percent, revealing that the area continues to be the destination of choice for a growing number of Florida visitors. In the face of increased competition, Lee County posted an additional 11.4 percent increase in visitor market share for the second quarter of FY09.

According to Davenport, a number of key initiatives continue to drive visitation and move the destination toward its goal of increasing bed tax collections through paid accommodation revenues.

For the domestic leisure consumer market, some highlights of these initiatives include:

• Promotions such as the Beach Brings Balance, the inaugural Summer Sanctuary, the 2nd Annual Islands FallFest and the Islands Treasures Tour
• The newly designed Great Calusa Blueway Web site
• A new rack brochure
• A new travel agent fact sheet
• Integrated marketing programs that actively promote new themed packages directly to consumers and travel agents
• A new sophisticated booking search engine on the consumer Web site that will package the “unique experiences” available in Lee County and help turn “lookers” into “bookers”

For the international leisure consumer market, the new initiatives include:

• A new German mini Visitor Guide and a targeted rack brochure for the United Kingdom

For the meeting and group travel markets, the highlighted initiatives include:

• An enhanced lead generation program that incorporates a direct mail campaign and prospecting calls
• Hiring a Midwest national sales manager based in Minneapolis
• Hosting the first destination meeting planner familiarization trip in March

Product development initiatives include:

• Enhanced procedures for and strengthening of the Beach & Shoreline, Arts & Attractions and Events Marketing programs

For industry and community outreach initiatives, the highlights include:

• Enhanced Team Tourism events focused on bringing together industry partners
• SimpleView, a new customer relationship management program
• The “Value of Tourism” community educational campaign

Next TDC Meeting
The TDC will not meet in August. The next TDC meeting is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 11, at the VCB office, located at 12800 University Drive, Suite 325. Please park on the top level of the parking garage. To view a complete tax collections report, go to www.LeeVCB.com. Contact: Suya Davenport at SDavenport@leegov.com, Lee County VCB, (239) 338-3500.