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St. Lucie County tourism office reports rising visitor numbers, stronger tax collections
Summary
The county's tourism division reported higher visitor counts, more hotel demand indicators and a notable increase in tourist-development tax collections so far in fiscal year 2025.
The St. Lucie County tourism division reported stronger visitor activity and higher tourist-development tax collections in its briefing to the Board of County Commissioners on April 8.
In a presentation to the board, tourism staff member Charlotte (identified in the record as the tourism division presenter) said an independent 2023 economic-impact study showed more than $1 billion in total economic impact from visitor spending, more than 1 million visitors to the county in 2023 and support for roughly 8,500 jobs. The study also estimated a net tax benefit to county households, Charlotte said, equivalent to "just over $400 per household" per year after accounting for the cost to serve visitors.
Charlotte told commissioners that tourist-development tax collections for fiscal year 2025 were running ahead of the same months in 2024. She said fiscal-year-to-date collections through January were up 22.2% from the prior fiscal year, and that preliminary February figures showed collections up 16% year over year. The tourism division is funded entirely from the tourist tax on overnight rentals, Charlotte said.
The presentation included additional industry metrics used by the division: hotel occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR). Charlotte said October through January showed increases across most of those measures, with a modest dip in ADR in January.
Charlotte also described visitor-origin data derived from mobile-device movement reports. The division defines a visitor as someone who travels more than 50 miles, spends at least two hours in the county and then returns home. She said most visitors originate within Florida but that northern markets increase during January through March. Quarter-by-quarter maps the division displayed showed Downtown Fort Pierce and the John B. Park Sports Complex among the top visited points of interest.
The tourism division said its digital advertising strategy drives traffic to the official VisitStLucie website. Since Oct. 1 the division reported roughly 187,000 users to the site and about 3.5 million recorded "events" (page interactions), and it referenced programmed "key events" tied to conversion goals such as guide requests and lodging inquiries. The office also reported ongoing email marketing and distribution of the annual Visit St. Lucie travel guide.
Charlotte highlighted high-profile seasonal draws: the New York Mets spring-training season set an attendance record with more than 106,000 fans this season, and the Vinny Ball tournament at Lawnwood Baseball Complex hosted 133 teams and more than 5,100 participants; the tourism division estimated those baseball events could generate roughly 9,000 room nights and a projected $12.6 million economic impact for the county (the presenter said that figure was projected, not yet realized).
Commissioners praised the division's work during the presentation. One commissioner noted the distinction that tourism is funded by tourist taxes rather than local property taxes and observed more visitors from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market in the county's visitor-origin data.
Charlotte closed by summarizing ongoing projects the division is tracking, including renovation and reopening plans for Sandpiper Bay Resort and monitoring commercial air service at Treasure Coast International Airport.
