NAPLES, Fla. — Tourism in Naples has experienced a slight decline according to new data from the city, but local businesses that depend on visitors remain confident about the future.
Fox 4's Eric Lovelace spoke to a business owner:
Recent data shows Naples and Marco Island lost 2,000 jobs over the last year, while the Collier County Tourism Director Report indicates total visitation declined 5.3% from April 2024 to April 2025. This contrasts with a 2.5% increase in visitation from April of 2023 to 2024.
At Tin City, a popular tourist destination in Naples, businesses rely heavily on out-of-town visitors.
"Tourism is huge and what's really the driving factor behind this city," said Greg Dyer, Director of Operations for Pure Florida, a fishing charter company based in Tin City.
Dyer's business takes hundreds of tourists out on the water daily, with numbers fluctuating based on the season.
"Right now around 250 people per day," Dyer said.
During peak season, those numbers increase dramatically.
"In season, it's so much more than that," Dyer said. "We're taking roughly around 8 to 900 people a day," Dyer said.
Despite the recent dip in tourism numbers, Dyer isn't worried, but he emphasizes the critical role visitors play in the local economy.
"Tourism really feeds all the money in this town that we need to survive every day," Dyer said.
