View From Afar S1, E21: IPW 2025 | Tamara Pigott, Executive Director of Visit Fort Myers

I’m Billie Cohen, Afar’s editorial director, and welcome to View From Afar, a podcast that spotlights the people and ideas shaping the future of travel. And in this special series, I’m coming to you live from the floor of IPW, the annual travel conference organized by the U.S. Travel Association to share the best of America with the rest of the world.

In this episode, I’m talking with Tamara Pigott, the executive director of Visit Fort Myers. Tamara’s been with the organization for 25 years and has held the top position for the past 10, and in all of that time, she’s been a driving force behind southwest Florida’s evolution into a world-class travel destination that’s known for more than just its sunny shores.

She’s balanced growth with conservation and invited visitors to go beyond the beaches to connect with the region’s culture, nature, and communities. In the past few years, Tamara has used her role to help the area’s residents and tourism industry rebound from Hurricane Ian, a category five storm that hit in 2022, and that work is still ongoing.

We’ll discuss those recovery efforts, her love of southwest Florida, and how Tamara’s helped turn places like Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, and Captiva Island into well-known names that draw millions of visitors every year.

Transcript

Billie: Welcome, Tamara. It’s so nice to have you here.

Tam: It’s great to be here. Thanks so much for giving me this opportunity.

Billie: So you have been working with Visit Fort Myers, and you’ve been working in that region for many years, so I, I think you were the expert to know like, what are the top reasons that someone should travel to your destination now?

Tam: You know, the islands, beaches, and neighborhoods that surround Fort Myers are almost magical. It is laid-back. It is—it’s sun and sand for sure, but it’s also a lot of nature. It’s migratory birds and, and bottle-nose dolphins, and, uh, manatees and, you know, it, it’s really a natural experience. We have some amazing islands, some you can only reach by a boat. And also the seashell capital of America.

Billie: What does that mean?

Tam: It’s kind of amazing. Sanibel Island has so many varieties of seashells that wash ashore. And, um, not only do they have a lot of seashells that wash ashore, but we also have the Bailey-Matthews National Seashell Museum. And, uh, it’s pretty amazing.

Billie: Wow. What do people see when they go in the museum?

Tam: All kinds of displays of seashells, but at like the highest possible level. They also have touch tanks. Um, it’s really amazing. So it’s great for the adult who loves seashells and wants to know more, but it’s also a really interactive experience for children. So definitely a multi-generational experience.

Billie: See, that’s an example I think, of how, how you have shifted the, the knowledge and, and, and fame of your area from just being a beach destination into a lot more. How did you do that?

Tam: Yeah. Well, I mean, great people had this job before I did. I want to be fair. But I, I think it’s the, you know—it is the destination that makes it so special. I mean, it is what we have to offer. I always say we did, you know, we’re a little different than some parts of Florida. We didn’t build on every square inch. We’ve taken into account that, “Yes, we’re that part of this big growing state and it, you know, a lot of demand for people who want to retire or relocate to Florida for sure. But we wanna balance that growth with protecting our environment.”

And people who have relocated there and are leaders there, are committed to that. And I think it’s really a unique situation. There are several places, but particularly Sanibel Island, almost 70 percent of the island is a preserve and they have height restrictions on the buildings. Even, even in our recovery from Hurricane Ian, they’re holding strong to their commitment to, protecting the environment and keeping density, uh, low. And, it, it makes for really a magical vacation.

Billie: Wow. So I did wanna ask you about Hurricane Ian, I know had hit in 2022. Is the tourism industry in your region still recovering from that?

Tam: For sure. I mean, you know, uh, it was a significant storm and there are challenges that we will face in the years ahead, but there’s good news there too. Every day, every month, new businesses are either opening new ones or businesses that existed before reopening. [There’s a] lot of recovery still on the accommodation side. Along the coast, we’re over 50 percent on our islands of, of accommodations, which is to me a big landmark for us, um, to have over 50 percent of the, the accommodations open on Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach.

And, destination-wide, we’re over 80 percent of the, the accommodations have reopened. So I, I am confident that our visitors who have come in the past, who have been maybe a little hesitant to come back or are able to do so now and see, yes, there’s some more work to do, but man, we’re moving in the right direction and the commitment that was there before to protecting how special this place is, continues.

Billie: You live in a region that has severe weather.

Tam: You’re correct.

Billie: And I’m curious, um, you’ve been through it a couple of times. If you have any advice or learnings from your experience that you, you would wanna pass on to other DMO and other tourism organizations that are maybe dealing with it for the first time.

Tam: Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, know, we are sort of a unique organization. A lot of DMOs are on the private side, but we’re actually an agency of our county government, which is interesting. But it also, it gives us really deep relationships with emergency management, with DOT, with the, uh, emergency operations of the county.

So we’re right in, literally we have staff embedded in the Emergency Operations Center during an event like this. And, um, like everything in life, any crisis makes you realize how important your personal relationships are. So knowing the sheriff, knowing every mayor in your community, having cell phones that you can call when other phones aren’t working, just the depth and breadth of your relationships are so important.

And, and we have great relationships throughout the community from Boca Grande all the way down to Bonita Springs. Just really good relationships with the chambers, with economic development offices with everyone that, you know, as a way that we could support our small businesses as we began our recovery.

And I think that if I had any bit of advice [it would be]: Never stop developing your relationship. And, and the more of them you can initiate before the better.

Billie: Sounds smart. Apart from weather, what are some of the tourism challenges that are specific to the Fort Myers area?

Tam: Yeah, you know, we came out of COVID, uh, strong and hard. The governor of Florida was saying, “We’re ready for visitors,” when a lot of places weren’t saying that. And we had, you know, record-breaking years in ’21 and ’22.

And we work on a fiscal year—that is October 1 through September 30—and, um, so up until Hurricane Ian, we were literally on a tear. And I felt really lucky to come out of the pandemic so strong. But when you have an experience, like we did the disaster that Hurricane Ian brought—you know, we thought COVID was bad [but] COVID was a blip compared to the challenge, you know, we faced.

But I do believe—international air service, you know, to our community hasn’t quite bounced back the way we wanted to. I think we thought it was going to, and then of course the hurricane happened. You know, we’re ready to have our international visitors come back. I wish the exchange rate was a little bit better right now, or in their favor. It’s great if we wanna go to Europe or, or travel the world, but I know that is moderating a bit and we’re happy to see that. Hoping that we can lean in a bit to those [travelers] as the exchange rate becomes more favorable. But I, I think, you know, the rebuild is our really our greatest challenge.

Billie: You talked about wanting to increase international visitation, and I read a quote from a recent talk that you gave where you noted that your visitors break down to roughly 80 percent domestic and 20 percent international. Is that sort of insulating you, since you have so many, such a high domestic visitorship? Is that a, a good thing? And then where do you wanna get to?

Tam: I should say pre-, pre-COVID was 80/20. Not so much since; uh, [it was] about 12 percent international last year. Certainly having a strong domestic visitation has always been to our advantage, and we are a leisure destination, we don’t have those challenges in the same way other destinations do, which I think continues to be, you know, economic turmoil, the reduction in business travel, whatever it may be.

And, and truly, you know, another advantage: Our visitor is, uh, not a luxury traveler, but, solid financial position traveler. So we’ve been a little bit lucky that, you know, some of the fluctuations in the economy haven’t been as strong for our travelers because they’re typically household income over $100,000. Um, college educated, you know, um, come from mostly urban markets, and are looking for that respite getaway without a passport.

Billie: It’s always nice to be able to do that and just hop on a plane, although you need your Real ID this, this time. Reminding everyone.

Tam: Absolutely.

Billie: So as you’re trying to increase tourism, is there something that you think that potential visitors don’t know about your destination that you wish that they did?

Tam: I do think that we have developed into a bit more of a vibrant community. It’s not just about the beach anymore. We have this really amazing quaint downtown in Fort Myers with brick-lined streets and all kinds of restaurants, and a hip new Autograph hotel called the Luminary. It’s a bit of an urban experience, but people really enjoy it. There’s a cigar bar, plenty of places to have really unique experiences. Some museums, great murals, and things to walk around and see, and people are really enjoying that.

Another community called Bonita Springs, they have developed a vibrant mini downtown with breweries and, and restaurants and a really beautiful park. And it’s, uh, right along the, the river. And I, you know, I see parts of our community—Cape Coral has developed an entertainment district and we’re seeing the neighborhoods really take on strength, especially post-hurricane when the beaches were not at their best, people were looking for other things to do and other places to explore.

And that made these areas more vibrant, those businesses became more successful. And people wanna be where other people are. And so I, it’s like feeding on itself, which is wonderful. The momentum is, you know, the ball’s rolling. And it’s fun to see each of these communities develop their own identity and really become their own destinations, many destinations within the greater area. So we’re enjoying watching that happen.

Billie: And how smart, right? Find an opportunity in a difficult situation. Is there any travel trend that you’re noticing and how is, how is the Fort Myers area responding?

Tam: You know, one travel trend we’re seeing a lot, and I think it fits our destination really well, is solo travel. Sometimes you just need to get away and have some quiet time and some peaceful time. And that, I think it fits really well. We have some really nice spas, but that beach, you know, getting your toes in the sand or being on a boat, taking an excursion to one of the outer islands you can only reach by boat and just having some real quiet downtime for yourself, it’s been something we’ve seen, you know, just as strengthening trend and one we’re leaning into for sure.

Billie: That sounds amazing.

Tam: And, you know, sometimes mama needs a vacation from, from life. Right. And, you know, I joked when—I’ve been with the [tourism] bureau a long time, but when I started a long, long time ago, when I was about two years old, um, our, our target market was almost identical to our target market today.

Billie: Oh, wow.

Tam: A lot of destinations, you know, wanted to be like, “Oh, how do we attract the millennials? Or how do we attract the Gen Zs?” And we decided, “No, let’s lean into who we really are,” and we fit you at a certain point in your life. And while that may be a little uncomfortable to hear, there’s something about being 45 to 55 years old and needing that respite and you know, having this peaceful getaway that, truly you can feel like you have it all to yourself and maybe it’s your family and you have it all to yourself, or maybe it’s just you as an individual. But, um, I think we, I, you know, why not be true to who you are and what you are, and maybe not try to be something for everyone. Be good at what you are.

Billie: Yeah. Especially when it’s as good as that.

Tam: Right.

Billie: Thanks for joining us for this episode of View From Afar. In the show notes, you’ll find links to everything we discuss today as well as the Fort Myers tourism website and social media handles. And be sure to follow along this week to hear more interviews with travel industry experts.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of View From Afar. In the show notes, you’ll find links to everything we discussed today, as well as the Fort Myers Tourism website and social media handles. And be sure to follow along this week to hear more interviews with travel industry experts.

You can find more Views From Afar on afar.com. And be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok. We’re @AfarMedia. If you enjoyed today’s exploration, I hope you’ll come back for more great interviews. Subscribing always makes that easy. And be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platforms. It helps other travelers find it.

This has been View From Afar, a production of Afar Media. The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to their other fine shows like Culture Kids and The Explorers Podcast.