Punta Gorda business owner gives outlook on county tourism after Milton

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar has been a staple in Punta Gorda for nearly a decade. However, the recent storms took a hit on business.

"I mean, three weeks without an income is a big impact on everybody," said owner of Leroy's Kitchen & Bar Lee Richardson.

Richardson told Charlotte County Community Correspondent Victoria Scott he dealt with nearly two feet of water after Helene.

Punta Gorda business owner gives outlook on Charlotte County tourism after Milton

Milton only made things worse.

"Milton hit us even harder," he said. "[It was] full of mud and all that junk."

Richardson said tourism dollars will be crucial for the community as places continue to reopen.

"Their dollars will be beneficial to us after what we just dealt with here for sure," he explained.

However, Richardson also told Scott why he believes Milton will impact tourism.

"This go-around, there's not as much rebuilding that has to be done, I don't believe, so I think this is going to definitely slow down the amount of people that are going to visit this region just due to the fact of people thinking the whole area is devastated."

Charlotte County Tourism Director Sean Doherty said it's a little too early to tell what impact the hurricanes will have tourism-wise.

"Obviously, when you have things like that happen it's going to get national and international exposure," Doherty told Scott. "It kind of works against what we're trying to do [of marketing] our destination to potential visitors."

Two big money makers are canceled because of the hurricanes: the Florida International Air Show and Englewood Beach Waterfest.

"Each of those events have historically brought in about $5 million of economic impact to the destination," Doherty said. "So, those are going to be two major hits.

Despite that, he says the county is on the right track.

"The vast majority of our hotel rooms are back up and operational," Doherty said. "Most of our attractions are either up and operational like the Visual Arts Center. Most of our restaurants for the most part are back up and running as well."

Richardson told Scott his restaurant is slated to reopen Friday at 3 p.m.