Collier tourism stays steady; hotel forecast optimistic

Collier County tourism numbers continued to improve during the last full month of tourist season, with visitation up 9.2% year over year and hotel operators expressing increased optimism for the summer months. 

April saw 248,100 visitors to Collier County, compared with 227,200 in April 2025, said James Brendle, project director and economic research lead for Downs & St. Germain Research. Brendle presented the data during the June meeting of the county's Tourist Development Council. 

Visitor days increased 10.3%, indicating travelers were staying longer, while direct visitor spending rose 7% year over year. 

“That’s a little bit less than the visitor growth, which tells us that per-visitor spending dipped a little bit,” Brendle said. “It’s worth watching and keeping an eye on to see if that’s a trend we see continue, but not really worth worrying about on a one-month basis.” 

Brendle said room nights sold, occupancy and revenue per available room all increased from a year ago but noted that April 2025 provided a relatively soft comparison. 

“Most of the metrics last year in April were roughly flat and slightly down, so this isn’t a purely breakout growth situation,” he said. “It’s a little bit of returning to baseline that we lost last year and then growing from that. But fundamentally, these figures look healthy to me.” 

Domestic visitation increased 12.8% from April 2025, representing approximately 25,000 additional visitors. 

Visitors from the Midwest increased nearly 21%, while the Northeast rose 12.7%, the Southeast climbed 15.5% and Florida visitors increased nearly 7%. 

International visitation, however, continued to lag, declining 13.8% year over year, or roughly 4,000 fewer visitors. 

“Obviously, this is a story that we’ve seen continue for the last year or so,” Brendle told the TDC. “That’s a trend that we’re still, at the moment, seeing across many of the destinations in Florida and across the country.” 

European visitation fell 17.2%, while Canadian visitation declined 13.3%. Visitors from Central and South America decreased 4.3%, and other international markets were down 13%. 

Brendle pointed to encouraging sentiment among hoteliers in the three-month outlook covering May through July. 

Monthly surveys of local lodging partners showed a more positive outlook for the upcoming three months than the industry reported a year ago, an encouraging sign heading into the summer season, he said. 

The share of lodging partners reporting an increase in reservations for the upcoming three months rose from 19% last year to 30% this year, while the percentage reporting declines fell from 32% to 18%. Most respondents said reservations were holding steady, reflecting a more positive outlook overall than a year ago.  

“This is a real directional improvement,” Brendle said. 

Tourism development tax revenue totaled more than $9.4 million in April, bringing collections for the fiscal year to more than $35.3 million, said Jay Tusa, executive tourism director for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau. 

That compares with $8.4 million collected in April 2025. 

Tourist development tax revenue is generated through the county's 5% bed tax on stays of six months or less at hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging properties. The revenue funds the CVB's marketing efforts, beach maintenance, the Paradise Coast Sports Complex and other tourism-related infrastructure and attractions. 

If approved by voters in November, the tax rate would increase by one percentage point.