Collier County tourism revenue grew again in April – the last full month of “season” – but the number of Canadian visitors dropped 19.4%, continuing a decline since the beginning of the year.
International visitation in April overall dropped 7.9% year-over-year, driven by the drop in Canadian visitors, but international markets posted year-over-year gains, according to Jay Tusa, director of the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors bureau, in his report to the Tourism Development Council on June 17.
“You know, the international numbers, we’re just kind of seeing that trend over the past few months,” Tusa said. “Canada’s dropping down, the other ones are holding steady. Everything else is relatively flat, so I’ll take flat as opposed to down.”
April 2025 tourist development tax revenue, the latest data available, totaled $8,422,608, Tusa said, resulting in a year-to-date total of $32,166,977. This was up from March 2025, when TDT revenue was $7,042,651.
According to Tusa, occupancy increased 4.2% year-over-year, to 67%, while the average daily lodging rate increased .09% to $381.91, contributing to a 5.2% increase in revenue per available room.
Total visitation declined by 5.3%, primarily due to a decrease in day-trippers. He said despite that drop, visitor days and room nights grew by 3.1%, supported by a continued increase in average length of stay.
Tusa said direct visitor spending declined by .04%, with the total economic impact down .07% year-over-year.
James Brendle, data analyst with research firm Downs & St. Germain, added context to Tusa’s report, explaining the disparity between the drop in visitation number and the increase in visitor days and room nights.
“The reason for that disparity is that we saw a significant decrease in the amount of day-trippers in April, but we also saw a continued trend of people that are coming to the destination are staying longer,” Brendle said.
Addressing the slight decline in visitor spending, Brendle explained it as “basically, just a re-shifting of where the spending is at.”
“We’re seeing a higher share of the visitor wallet is being concentrated into accommodation spending and then slightly less across the board for things like dining and shopping and entertainment and that sort of thing,” he said.
In terms of visitor origin, Brendle said the Midwest still tops the list, for fiscal year to date, followed by the Northeast, Florida and the Southeast. He also noted the decrease in international visitors being driven down by significant decreases in Canadian visitation, which, he said “is a bummer.”
The broad array of international visitors attracted to the area helped the overall numbers, Brendle said. “You were able to buoy that international visitation with increases from the likes of Europe and Central and South America and other places around the world,” he said.
He cited two potential areas of concern for the market: demand falling for group hotel bookings, and 42% of visitors who reported considering other destinations before booking, which he said was an all-time high for April.
“Group hotel bookings as a share of total hotel bookings are still third-highest in the competitive set fiscal year to date,” Brendle said. “But group demand fell 3.3% in April, which was the second consecutive month of group demand declining, but not a large decline.”
Regarding the increase in visitors who considered other destinations before booking, he said it highlights “some intensifying competition.” He said top alternatives that visitors considered included Sarasota, Bradenton, Fort Myers, Sanibel and international destinations such as Europe, the Caribbean and South America.
