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Southwest Florida tourism continues to climb despite COVID-19 cases

Reporter: Andrea Guerrero
Published:
Tourism in Southwest Florida is alive and well despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. (CREDIT: WINK News)

Southwest Florida tourism is booming despite the spike in COVID-19 cases that the state has seen recently.

Lee and Collier County have actually had a record-breaking year in tourism.

Brian Hamman, Lee County commissioner and chair of the Tourist Development Council, said most hotels in the area are booked.

“We anticipate our August tourism numbers to be the best August that we have ever had in the history tracking Lee county tourist numbers,” Hamman said. “In fact every month this year has been better than it was even in 2019.”

Hamman said the fiscal year is not over yet, but so far the county has collected more money in tourism taxes this year than they did all of 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Hamman said hotels are starting to get booked for winter and they’re having to hire more to deal with the influx of tourists.

Tourists are flocking to Florida because it’s so easy to travel to without any COVID-19 restrictions.

In July, Southwest Florida International Airport had more than 7,000 flights coming in and out.

That’s a 51% increased compared to July of last year.

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