International travelers looking forward to returning to Southwest Florida

International travelers looking forward to returning to Southwest Florida

FORT MYERS

Southwest Florida will soon be welcoming international visitors again. The United States lifts all travel bans on foreign visitors from 33 countries on November 8th, which is great news for tourism.

People who want to enter the country must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide evidence. This is done by the airlines abroad before anyone even gets on a plane.

The same applies to evidence of a negative COVID-19 test.

But you can still expect RSW to get busier as many fearful people are poised to return to Southwest Florida.

Rolf Weiss is one of those people who look forward to seeing you again. He lives in Germany and has traveled here for 12 years in a row. Then the pandemic struck and made everything quiet.

Weiss, to comfort himself, has made a fake Fort Myers Beach in his backyard in Germany, but the decoration is no longer necessary. Weiss said: “I said to my family, great, we can go back!”

The Biden government will lift travel bans for fully vaccinated visitors from 33 countries on November 8th. There are limited allowances for non-vaccinated foreigners.

Weiss has already booked a beach house for January. “We’re crazy about Florida,” he said.

That kind of enthusiasm is exactly what Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman wants to hear. “I think we are likely to have one of the busiest seasons ahead of us in our history,” said Hamman, who is also chairman of the tourism development council.

Hamman said Lee County was already inundated with domestic visitors, possibly more this year than any other year.

Foreign tourists made up 15-25% of visitors to Lee County before the pandemic, so busy businesses are about to get busier. And the beauty of it is that they are staying longer and spending more money here helping small businesses.

Hamman said Canadians usually come to the area in winter and Germans in summer.

The first flight from Germany to RSW will not take place until the end of March, but Weiss is not waiting. He’ll be here in January, flying to Miami and driving across the state.

See similar https://www.winknews.com/2021/10/26/international-travelers-looking-forward-to-returning-to-southwest-florida/

The post International travelers looking forward to returning to Southwest Florida first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

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