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The stronger U.S. dollar didn't scare tourists away from Collier County last year.
In a report to hoteliers recently, the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau reported increases in visitors from nearly every country of origin it tracks. The 2015 data alleviated concerns by hoteliers that a stronger dollar may lead to fewer foreign tourists.
Data show Collier County had more visitors from Europe last year than it did from the Midwest. And if you add all foreign visitors, including those from Canada and Latin America, they accounted for the second-largest number of visitors to Collier County behind Florida's in-state visitors.
“(Canadians) and the Europeans had a lot to do with our recovery from the recession,” says Jack Wert, executive director of the visitors' bureau, speaking recently to hoteliers in Naples.
It helps that Air Berlin added a nonstop flight from Germany to Fort Myers. Wert says Edelweiss flights from Switzerland to Tampa and Norwegian flights from Scandinavia into Fort Lauderdale have also boosted visitors' trips to Naples.
Apart from the traditionally strong markets of Germany and Great Britain, Wert says there's been an increase in visitors in 2015 from new markets such as Argentina (up 33.7%), Belgium and The Netherlands (up 30.9%), Scandinavia (up 17.7%) and Switzerland (up 15.7%).
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