May brought more visitors to Collier County

The reasons? More people are staying in a room, and there are more rooms to fill, with renovated rooms coming back online and new hotels in the mix, said Ann Wittine, director of data analysis with Research Data Services, the county's tourism consultant.

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Wittine presented the latest statistics, which were mostly positive, at a Tourist Development Council meeting Monday. Here are some of the year-over-year highlights for May: 

» The number of visitors rose 1.4 percent to 137,200.

» Room nights booked increased 0.3 percent to 186,600.

» Total spending by visitors grew 6.8 percent to more than $166.4 million. 

» The average daily rate rose by 8.9 percent to $215.10.

Occupancy last month fell by 1.4 percent to 69.1 percent, down from 70.1 percent a year ago.

In a survey of hoteliers, the consultant found there was continuing weakness in the group business and that wildfires and bad weather affected tourism in May, including bookings for the long holiday weekend for Memorial Day.

However, looking ahead to the rest of the summer, hoteliers are saying they expect business to be up over last year, Wittine said.

In May the county saw more visitors from Florida than it did last year — and more tourists came from the Southeast, the Northeast and the Midwest, its top U.S. markets.There were fewer visitors from Canada and Europe than a year ago.

Year-to-date through May, visitation is up 1.4 percent over last year, while the number of room nights booked is down 1.5 percent. Spending has reached more than $1.1 billion, up 4 percent from the same months last year.

The county also saw more repeat visitors in May.

Despite the rosy picture, Councilman Clark Hill, general manager of the Hilton Naples, said he's concerned about tourist tax collections.

The bed tax, collected on hotel and other vacation stays, has been down seven of the past 13 months, which could reflect the "Airbnb phenomenon" if those renters aren't collecting the money as required.

"I'm not sure of what that is," he said. "But it concerns me. It's something we need to continue to keep an eye on."  

By the Numbers

Here's a look at visitor origins from January through May in Collier County and how they compare with the same months last year: 

Market                               Number of Visitors                    Percent change 

Florida                                 250,198                                       +4.8 

Southeast                               57,223                                       -1.3

Northeast                            224,341                                        +0.3

Midwest                              164,435                                        -0.02

Canada                                 25,214                                        -5

Europe                               128,252                                        +0.6

*West                                    38,037                                       +4.3

Total                                   887,700                                        +1.4

*Markets West of the Mississippi

Source: Research Data Services