Collier County nearly doubles tourism budget

On Tuesday, Collier County Commissioners approved a nearly $12 million budget for a tourism marketing campaign.

Naples business owner Marilyn Hellman feels like the county made the right decision.

"It's nice that we get supported by our counties, our cities, our towns. It makes it easy for us," said Hellman.

The reason why is that Collier County just approved an additional $5 million budget to increase the number of tourists in the area.

"It makes it a little bit more personal than the state... The state can allocate money, and you may not realize it, but what you see is Collier County. You're like hey, that's going to affect us, that's where I get my licensing, so for that, I'm thankful," said Hellman.

The budget stems from a lack of tourism since the hurricanes, but the county and business owners want tourists to know they're ready and open.

"This is the area to be in. All the snowbirds are coming back now!" said business owner Carolyn Lancaster.

Lancaster couldn't be happier, "What are you kidding? Fantastic, fantastic. The more the merrier."

So, how will this impact the county directly?

Sandra Rios, with the tourism division of the city of Naples, said, "Really emphasize or go a little deeper into our core markets, so we can really expand some of those marketing campaigns and really stay top of mind with those visitors that are still essential to bring back here to visit, to let them know that our resorts, our hotels, are open for business."

Although the tourism rates have dropped, the county wants visitors to know, "You're in a destination that really understands the value of tourism, the importance of tourism to our community, and that we know we have the support of people in those places for us."

Residents and other business owners we spoke with off-camera seem to be happy about the decision and ready to welcome visitors.