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Tourists are partners in rebuilding our community
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We are thrilled to welcome spring training and excited that some of our beaches are opening.
Jeff Mielke, executive director of Lee County Sports Development, reports that while spring training ticket sales are strong, tickets are currently available to most games.
With our beautiful weather, it’s a great reason to get out and enjoy a fun day at the ballpark.
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The spring training season runs through March 27 for the Minnesota Twins at Lee County Sports Complex/Hammond Stadium and March 28 for the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park.
We are delighted as businesses and attractions reopen almost every day. From the moment Hurricane Ian came through our area we knew that we would be facing a challenging road ahead.
We also knew that we’d be rebuilding during our busiest time. But we recognize that the hard work and progress that is taking place now is what helps bring our visitors back to support our local businesses and stimulate our economy as we recover. Our visitors aren’t just guests passing through, they are a vital and important part of our recovery.
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The latest figures indicate that 68.4% of Lee County accommodations are now open for a total of 9,801 rooms.
Check the list that gets longer daily of openings in all areas of Lee County at visitfortmyers.com/open.
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Sanibel Lighthouse relighting ceremony, Feb. 28
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Another milestone reached: The Sanibel Lighthouse glows again on the five-month anniversary of Hurricane Ian. The relighting is the embodiment of the indomitable spirit of our community. This landmark has been guiding people to our community since 1884 and it will again help welcome visitors to our shores.
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If you're an industry partner and would like to be considered for a VCB Partner Spotlight, please contact Miriam Dotson, VCB communications manager, at mdotson@leegov.com
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Calling all Sun Saver Passport partners
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Together with our friends at Bandwango, the Lee County VCB is relaunching the Fort Myers Sun Saver Passport, a collection of mobile-exclusive discounts for visitors and locals to enjoy throughout the destination.
Sun Saver provides instant access to a variety of deals and experiences from area attractions, restaurants, and more across four categories – Dine, Play, Shop and Sip.
There is no app to download and signup is simple and 100% free for both users and industry partners. Passports are instantly delivered to phones via text and email.
If you want your business to be included in this fun digital savings pass, please contact the VCB's Vanessa Gomez at vgomez@leegov.com.
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Road to Recovery: Key West Express
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Updates from the Performance Dashboard
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The VCB's Industry Insights Dashboard provides our partners with the latest Lee County-specific travel data. Partners can use this information to make informed marketing decisions, resource planning, revenue forecasting and more.
Current insights:
- From December to January, we saw a 200% increase in 2023 hotel demand. Source: TripAdvisor
- The average lead time for hotel bookings in January was 56.1 days, which was a slight decrease of 1.2% over January 2022. Source: Sojern
- Overall, there was a 63% increase in destination website pageviews and site interaction for January when compared to December. In January, new users to the destination website from outside of Florida originated from Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., New York, Minneapolis, and Columbus, OH. Source: Google Analytics
- The top out-of-state origin markets for January were Chicago, New York City, Minneapolis and Detroit. We saw an 18.4% decrease in the total number of visitors for January 2023 when compared to January 2022. Source: Arrivalist
- Hotel ADR for January increased by 12% and RevPar was up 14.4% compared to January 2022. Source: STR
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Guests First success story
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We are excited to share that Lillian Love, a Certified Guest Service Professional, is graduating from the Habitat for Humanity Homeownership program this month. She was an employee of Bailey's General Store until Hurricane Ian. Like other hospitality employees, she was faced with many challenges. The Guests First team was happy to go the extra smile and assist her and other displaced hospitality workers by gathering unemployment resources. Love not only found new employment using her great customer service skills, but she also completed her final Habitat for Humanity volunteer hours with the Guests First team by her side.
Rotating photos include:
- (Photo 1) CGSP summer 2022 graduates
- (Photos 2-4) Lillian Love and the Guests First team, Dr. Nicole King and Crystal Wanke
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Domestic sales activities
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Rotating photos include:
- (Photos 1-2) Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Convening Leaders, Jan. 8-11: Betsy Bush, VCB, promoted the destination at this meeting planner event in Columbus, Ohio. About 5,000 planners attended.
(Photo 3) Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA) Emerge, Jan. 24-26: Candice Cocco, VCB, and Jenna Adams, Luminary Hotel & Co., met one-on-one with faith-based meeting planners in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Photos 4-5) Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE) CEO Mid-Winter Meeting, Jan. 29-31: Jerry Terp, VCB, attended the CEO conference (STEM market) and gave a destination presentation to over 120 attendees. During the conference, Terp also co-hosted a client dinner.
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International sales activities
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VISIT FLORIDA Exclusive Evening Reception, Toronto, Jan. 17: Dana Young, VISIT FLORIDA CEO, provided an update on the importance of Canada and the international market to Florida. The Canada VCB Team, VoX International, networked with over 40 media, tour operators, airlines and key travel partners during this event.
Photo 1: Lauren Pace, VISIT FLORIDA; Nancy Jeronimo, Air Canada Vacations; and Jeanette Faria, VoX.
Photo 2: VISIT FLORIDA's Shahfreen Elavia; Aelon Suskey, Erin Oddleifson, Dana Young, CEO; Lauren Pace, and Susan Webb, VoX president.
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Shellcast's new podcast episode is for the birds
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Shellcast, the VCB's award-winning podcast is available on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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FOX Weather interviews Hamman and owner of La Ola Surfside Restaurant
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Lee County Commissioner and Tourist Development Council Chairman Brian Hamman and Tom Houghton, owner of La Ola Surfside Restaurant, were interviewed earlier this month on FOX Weather. They both discussed recovery efforts and how the destination is ready to welcome visitors.
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British reporter revisits destination
Feb. 28: Bill Leckie, UK Sun; Ray Sarracino, VCB, and Patrick Connolly, Orlando Sentinel, on Fort Myers Beach. Leckie and Connolly also attended the Sanibel Lighthouse relighting ceremony. Leckie visited the destination last September and departed during Hurricane Ian. He returned to write about recovery efforts.
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Canadian writer visits destination
Feb. 19: Jackie Parker, VCB; David Gibb, Canadian travel writer; Capt. Brian Holaway and Beverly Thompson explore Cayo Costa. Gibb writes for Travel Awaits.
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Out and about with Visitor Services Tourism Ambassadors
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The VCB's Tourism Ambassadors assisted at ArtFest Fort Myers, Feb. 3-5. The photos above include Marie, Barb, Lana, Cindy and Terri.
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2201 Second Street, Suite 600
Fort Myers, Florida 33901
Toll Free 800.237.6444 | Local 239.338.3500
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