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A good indicator of the upcoming tourism season is airport traffic.
Tourism officials in Fort Myers and Naples cheered in August and September when Southwest Florida International Airport reported more passengers than in the same months last year. The number rose 1.4% in August and 10% in September, a stunning jump in this recession.
Some took it as a positive sign that the upcoming winter tourism season might prove to be better than the dismal one they experienced last year.
But October's passenger tally dampened those higher expectations. The Fort Myers airport saw a 4.3% drop in the number of passengers in October compared with the same month in 2008. For the year to date, passenger traffic is down 2.6%.
While no one can forecast with certainty how the winter tourism season will play out, the airport numbers suggest that it will be uneven at best.
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