FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Depending on where you went out this weekend you may have seen piles of dead fish along some waterways.
It's a result of red tide— and it's just the latest hit to businesses along Southwest Florida's shores.
Red tide isn't just harmful to marine life, but to our health too as it can cause respiratory issues. It's something that may have some visitors thinking twice about visiting our area's beaches and that's bad news for our coastal communities.
In Lee County, tourism dollars generated more than $3.7 billion in 2021. That money went toward county-wide projects like beach nourishment.
The latest challenge, however, has some business owners feeling not worried at all about the tide’s long-term effects.
"Red tide does hurt the business," said Anthony Lavalle, owner of Yo Taco. "I mean, people can’t stay out in it and hopefully it doesn’t continue to be this severe.”
A new challenge for Fort Myers Beach business owners as the red tide washes ashore.
"It usually comes and goes fairly quickly," says Lavalle. "I’d just like it to get out of here, really. I’m not a huge fan!”
Business owners like Lavalle of Yo Taco. The food truck was one of the first beach businesses to reopen after Hurricane Ian. Now in snowbird season— a key for Southwest Florida’s local economy, another challenge presents itself.
"The traffic doesn’t seem as stifling as it has in the past but it’s been consistent and busy.”
During a typical season, Fort Myers Beach would be packed with visitors. Five months after Ian and it's still recovering. But that’s not stopping the people who call it home from building back.
"It was exciting to be able to open as quickly as we did right after the hurricane,” said Jamie Gregor, guest services manager at DiamondHead Beach Resort.
Over at Coste Island Cuisine, another business quick to reopen its doors, a similar trend is being noticed.
“Not the typical season," said Gregor. "No vacationers, we’re still working on a lot of the amenities around the property but it’s good to just be here.”
The Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau says visitors who traveled to the Fort Myers area in 2021 spent a little more than $3.7 billion. That was on accommodations, groceries, transportation, attractions, entertainment, and shopping. The area also saw a little more than 4.6 million visitors that same year coming out of the pandemic.
“I mean we’re getting crowds, but clearly we’re down 50-60%,” said Lavelle.
It’s been a year of challenges and will continue to be as the beach rebuilds. But, as Lavalle says, so long as there’s a beach there will always be visitors.
"We need these visitors- it keeps the businesses alive. In the long term, we’ll see how that dust settles but I think once they start to rebuild, people will continue to come and the businesses will arrive. We need people to survive, for sure."
