Seasonal Depression

The road to Sanibel Island is one less traveled these days, making locals nervous as season hits its stride. Causeway crossings since August have declined to their lowest levels in 14 years, and now the world-famous tourist destination may be facing its toughest challenges on record.

First, Hurricane Charley wreaked nearly $1 billion in structural damage to Sanibel and Captiva islands on Aug. 13. Then, what many island business owners consider an even more devastating hit occurred Nov. 1, when the toll to cross the causeway to the islands rose from $3 to $6.

As the island heads into the busiest time of the year, nearly one-third of lodgings remain closed because of the hurricane; and the number of visitors to the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce's Visitor Center have dropped since August. Island merchants are looking to the future with both hope and fear.

"let's just say the reports of our death are premature," says Steve Greenstein, executive director of the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce. "The best word to describe the upcoming tourist season would be 'soft.' Soft, in that while demand generally seems to be at historic levels, the lack of available resort inventory will make it impossible for everyone who wants to come to find a place to stay on the islands."

The morning after Charley swept across the islands, though, Greenstein wasn't nearly so hopeful. "I have to tell you, when I woke up, I figured life as we know it was over, that tourism was going to be decimated for a lot of years, and that was partly because I knew we wouldn't be able to compete with other Florida destinations." He wasn't alone. "We have 625 members at the chamber, and every single member I talked to had bad news right after the storm-destruction to their business, to their homes, the loss of personal property, the uncertainty of their financial future," he says.

As hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne marred other competing Florida tourist stops in the ensuing six weeks, Greenstein's attitude shifted. "That ended up leveling the playing field for all the Florida destinations," he says. "It's unfortunate that it took someone else's misfortune to bring us back."

On Sanibel, Hurricane Charley took a major toll on structures, accounting for some $700 million in damages. "Ninety percent of the structures on Sanibel had some level of damage, but not one building had to be torn down because of the hurricane," says Judie Zimomra, city manager. "That's testament to our strong building codes."

Winds of 143 mph ripped through the islands, snapping branches and trunks of Australian pine trees and destroying the signature leafy canopy along the main drives of both Sanibel and Captiva. Estimates are that Sanibel lost 40 percent of its shade, and Captiva nearly twice that much. Although Peri-winkle Way on Sanibel looks noticeably different, Captiva Drive is shocking, with trophy homes once discreetly shrouded in dense foliage now looming large on the landscape.

The City of Sanibel spent more than $6 million just on debris removal. On unincorporated Captiva, property owners dished out huge sums to clear their private lands. Renowned artist and long-time Captiva resident Robert Rauschenberg spent more than $750,000 to have debris removed from his swath of Gulf-to-bay property.

But tourism officials aren't concerned that the denuded appearance of the once lush islands will deter vacationers. "We're stressing that this is how the islands looked before the exotics were introduced," says D.T. Minich, executive director of the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB). "The vegetation is bouncing back fast. In the long run, the islands will be even more beautiful than before."

Besides, officials argue, first-time visitors will probably focus on the beautiful beaches. "Incredibly, the beaches are as nice as they've ever been, and the shelling has been awesome," says Greenstein. "Other destinations have needed emergency renourishment, but we're fine."

heading into season, greenstein says, he has a bigger worry.

"I'm more concerned about the ability to absorb the toll increase into the business community than I am about overcoming nearly a billion dollars worth of damage," he says.

Even before Hurricane Charley walloped the islands, business owners were irate over the Lee County Board of County Commissioners' decision to raise the toll last year. The hike, effective Nov. 1, 2004, is to fund the anticipated cost of at least $125 million to replace the causeway's three ailing bridges. Initially, the price tag for the project was estimated at roughly half that amount. But it grew, county officials say, because of lawsuits filed by some Sanibel residents and the city over the fixed-span design and maintenance issues. Those suits delayed the project; in the meantime, material and other costs soared. Not only was the basic cash toll doubled, from $3 to $6; but for the first time in the causeway's 41-year history, the discount program with a coin drop went from 50 cents to $3. That six-fold increase for residents and island workers hit hard.

Many businesses pay the tolls for workers who commute every day to the island. "I have employers that are paying close to $100,000 in toll expenses," says Greenstein, noting that many employers opted for the unlimited transponder, which allows a driver to cross as many times as he or she wants for $600, four times the previous $150.

"The biggest effect the toll will have is on the business owners, causing the cost of doing business to increase because of the toll reimbursement for workers living off island," says Minich, of the VCB. "There will probably also be a decrease in day-trippers."

Walter Klages, chief executive officer of Research Data, maintains statistics on tourism for the VCB. His analyses show that in 2003, the number of visitors to the county edged just over 2 million, with more than 500,000 staying on Sanibel and Captiva. However, spending, influenced by day-trippers as well as those staying on the islands, saw a different breakdown: nearly one-third of the $1.8 billion was spent on Sanibel and Captiva. "There's no question that Sanibel and Captiva are a major part of the tourism industry. It has a major impact not just on the islands' economies, but on the county's economy as well," says Klages.

Just how the toll hike will affect the economic picture remains to be seen, but traffic over the bridge fell nearly 17 percent within the first month of the toll increase. Crossings for November dropped 42,469 vehicles from 274,091 last year to 231,622 in 2004. A number below 235,000 hadn't been seen since 1990.

"I don't believe our employers, for the most part, have the pricing power to pass that increase on to the consumer," says Greenstein. "It's a very competitive business, and our main competition is right on the other side of the bridge. It wouldn't surprise me if within two years you see some businesses on the island making the decision to go out of business or sell their businesses."

The good news is that the county and city are negotiating an end to the lawsuits in hopes of reducing the tolls, at least somewhat. However, no restructuring of the tolls is anticipated prior to the end of fiscal year 2005, on Sept. 30, according to Amy Davies, transportation program manager for the Lee County Department of Transportation. So no relief is in sight for this year's struggling season.

some well-capitalized businesses on the islands see some benefit from Hurricane Charley. For example, MeriStar, which owns South Seas Resort on Captiva and several top-notch Sanibel properties, including Sundial Beach Resort, The Dunes and Sanibel Inn, is taking advantage of the downtime to renovate. South Seas Resort won't be fully operational until late this spring, delayed by major renovations now underway. Autumn Barnes, public relations agent for MeriStar, says the hurricane has given the company the opportunity to do a much-needed $180-million renovation.

Last year, Sanibel and Captiva accounted for nearly 20 percent of $12 million in Lee County bed-tax revenues. But those numbers will be hard to match because there are damaged resorts with limited occupancy this season. By the end of January, 1,300 lodging units remained offline from the hurricane, out of a normal inventory of 4,500 for both islands.

In a survey conducted in September, nearly 40 percent of potential visitors believed Sanibel and Captiva had sustained "severe impact" from the hurricane and expected full recovery to take until May. But Klages is forecasting a solid season. Based on more recent interviews with previous, potential and current visitors to the islands, he promises the season will be full-throttle. "Consumers don't even want to talk about hurricanes anymore," he says. "They don't remember the names of them and they certainly don't remember the chronology."

Island businesses are hoping he is right and are looking beyond peak season.

"Our challenge now is to market our destination aggressively for our typical summer market, which is in-state travelers and European travel," says Greenstein.