Tourism in Collier County broke records last month. The county hosted more visitors in February than any other February in its history.
Jack Wert, Executive Director of the Naples Marco Island Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, said bad weather up north drove more people to the area than officials expected.
“This month really does continue the really good results that we have had for the past 18 months,” he said. “We have seen steady increases in number of visitors and spending.”
Wert said the stark differences between winter storms up north and Florida’s very warm winter brought a 4.8 percent jump in visitors compared to the same month a year earlier.
With more than 190,000 visitors in the Naples area last month, the local economy saw about $225 million in spending.
Last year almost 95 million people visited Florida. Gov. Rick Scott has said he hopes this year brings 100 million visitors.
