SANIBEL, Fla. — Florida’s tourism spending hit an all-time high in 2023, with visitors spending more than $130 billion. While the rest of the state celebrates this record, many hotel owners on Sanibel Island say they have been left behind.
WATCH AS SANIBEL COMMUNITY ANVAR RUZIEV SPEAKS WITH BUSINESS OPERATORS ABOUT THE ISLAND'S TOURISM:
Two years after Hurricane Ian devastated the island, many of Sanibel’s hotel rooms are still out of commission. Some had to be remodeled all over again after Hurricane Milton struck, making recovery even harder. As the rest of Florida enjoys booming tourism numbers, Sanibel struggles to bring back overnight guests.
John Lai, President of the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce, believes the main problem is the lack of available places to stay. “I think that the tourism driven economy was, was, uh, absent here on Sanibel-Captiva Because we didn't have the inventory for people to stay in we certainly missed out on our piece of that pie,” Lai said.
In 2023, businesses saw encouraging numbers as visitors began to return, but this year they have seen a drop. Joe Levine, owner of the Tarpon Tale Inn on Sanibel, has noticed a huge decline in occupancy.
“We did see good numbers in 2023. That was very encouraging. Unfortunately, in 2024, we saw a huge dip. For example, I had 80 percent occupancy in September of 2023. September of 2024, we were just at barely 50%. That's a huge drop,” Levine said.
He believes there is a wrong idea spreading that Sanibel doesn’t have enough rooms open. In fact, Levine says the island’s lodging, restaurants, and activities are ready for visitors.
“I know for a fact that we are down significantly from 2023 to 2024, and it's the entire year of 2024, even into December right now, typically, we would be full up around the holidays and we are not,” Levine explained.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused Levine thousands of dollars in repairs from storm surges this year. Despite new accommodations, he worries visitors will not return. “Looking forward into the advanced bookings for 2025. It's a little concerning. The numbers that I'm seeing right now,” Levine said.
The Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of commerce expects half of the island’s hotel rooms to be back online by February, which is earlier than planned. Still, as the rest of Florida celebrates record tourism spending, Sanibel continues to wait for its share of those visitors to come back.
