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Lee County tourism director details post‑Ian rebound, bed‑tax investments as she announces retirement
Summary
Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau executive director Tamara Paget told the Bonita Springs City Council the county saw about 3.3 million visitors in 2025 and $46.8 million in bed‑tax revenue; she outlined spending on beaches, events and marketing and introduced her successor before announcing her retirement.
Tamara Paget, executive director of the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, told the Bonita Springs City Council that Lee County recorded roughly 3.3 million visitors in 2025 who spent about $3.3 billion locally and generated about $46.8 million in tourist development ("bed") tax revenue for fiscal year 2025.
"Tourism directly fuels our local economy," Paget said, describing the bureau as the county's lead marketing agency funded by the 5% bed tax charged on short‑term lodging. She said the bureau divides bed‑tax receipts among marketing and operations (a little more than half), beach and shoreline programs (a little more than a quarter) and debt service and spring‑training facilities (about 20%).
Paget highlighted several local investments that have benefited Bonita Springs, including about $26 million in shoreline funding over 25 years and $12.4 million returned to beach and shoreline facilities in the most recent year. She said the bureau also used reserves — roughly $18 million — to support $31 million in post‑Hurricane Ian projects that exceed FEMA reimbursements, naming Fort Myers Beach Pier and the Sanibel Causeway among priorities.
Council members asked about the underlying data for the countywide spending estimate. Paget said the bureau uses a mix of visitor intercept surveys (about 300 per month handled by a contractor), vendor data (she named Down St. Germaine's as a contractor), VisaView credit‑card tracking and geolocation/mobile data to estimate visitor expenditures and travel patterns.
Paget described the bureau's broader outreach — paid media, earned placements (Southern Living, Travel + Leisure, Brand USA), influencer partnerships, a destination toolkit for local businesses and 13 webcams across Lee County (including one at Lover's Key State Park) — as tools that drive visitation and website engagement.
She also noted development in the hospitality pipeline: seven hotels under construction countywide, roughly 570 new rooms expected, and recent hotel sales in Bonita Springs (a Homewood sold for about $14.35 million and a Hampton Inn for about $11 million, which Paget characterized as a healthy per‑key valuation).
Paget announced her retirement effective July 8 and introduced Pamela Johnson as the incoming executive director. The council presented Paget with a certificate of recognition for 33 years of service and thanked her for her leadership.
The presentation included a question‑and‑answer period; Paget said the bureau maintains detailed statistics online (leecvb.com) and that staff and contractors produce deeper breakdowns on visitor origin, party type and expenditures.
No formal council action was required on the presentation.
