FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Fort Myers Beach is on it's way back.
After Hurricane Ian and so much recovery, now it's time for the reward.
"What a difference a year makes," Jacki Liszak, president and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce said.
The former co-owner, Nina Clarkston, of the Sun Deck Inn and Suites is now opening up a new shop on Fort Myers Beach. Mister Waves Island Bar is already seeing tourists back in town for a tan.
"Hopefully we can just build back Fort Myers Beach again the way that it was or maybe even better," Clarkston said.
Another worker at the island bar, Katja Gonzales, says their first weekend open was a success.
"Everybody was pulling their weight, bartenders are going back and forth helping the servers, so it was really good," she said.
Sterling Kolar manages Yucatan, another packed Fort Myers Beach restaurant.
"Last month was the one month that really predicts the seasonality of how everything's gonna go," he said.
He says October is when the uptick in tourists started and the FMB Chamber of Commerce says the economy is healing.
The businesses are telling me that we're doubling revenue every month right now," Liszak said.
Businesses all along FMB are excited to see the people coming back, especially those that have endured so much just to reach this point.
