Season is in ‘full swing’ on the island, says Chamber
The Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce has analyzed recent traffic to their Visitor Center and confirms what many Island residents and businesses knew already season is here a little early and we are now in full swing.
“We keep careful track of the number of people coming to our Visitor Center as it tells island businesses what to expect. In January we were 7 percent ahead of 2013 and so far in February we are beating that nearly 9 percent ahead of last year. We have just had our first 1,000 visitors a day at the Visitor Center of 2014 this is great news and a predictor of a great season” said Ric Base, president of the Chamber.
Many island businesses confirm the chamber’s view.
“We are seeing a noticeably higher customer count so far this year and we saw very little of the expected downtime in January. I don’t think anyone is left up north to endure the bad weather because they all seem to be here,” said Susie Holly of MacIntosh’s Books and Paper.
And we all enjoy our visitors’ pleasure in our Islands.
Bob Kramm, general manager at the newly renovated Sundial Beach Resort, said “we are delighted with the level of business that we are experiencing following the outstanding renovations in our restaurant and beverage operations. Our ‘Four Seasons of Sundial’ promotions have appealed both to tourists and local residents.”
This view was reinforced by Jeff Weigel of the Sanibel Deli who said “We are really happy with the level of business we are experiencing this early in the season, this could be our best year ever.”
The islands of Sanibel and Captiva have a long history of offering a warm and sunny welcome at this time of year. Season is upon us says Ric Base: “it’s just what we and our visitors have been wanting! Enjoy!”