How’s tourism in the Keys? Hotel taxes have hit a new record at $9.2 million

How high has tourism in the Florida Keys bounced back since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

It’s at an all-time high in one tell-tale department.

The Keys in March set a record by generating more than $9.2 million in taxes from hotel, motel and short-term vacation rentals, according to the Monroe County tax collector.

The $9,216,318 represents taxes picked up March 1-31 and is an increase of nearly 148% from March 2020, when the tourist development tax totaled about $3.7 million, said county Tax Collector Sam Steele.

In a Facebook post last week, Steele reported the figures as the April “distribution” of tax money through the county but the taxes come from March, he said.

The Tourist Development Council’s portion from the March take is a little over $7 million, a record high that comes from a record high average daily rate of about $450 per night countywide, said TDC director Stacey Mitchell.

Occupancy rates in March were flat compared with March 2019, Mitchell said.

Where do Americans want to travel this summer? To these spots in Miami-Dade and the Keys

The rest of the bed tax money is divided among the county’s general fund and the land trust, of which a portion goes to the city of Key West.

The 5% “bed tax” is an indicator of economic success in the Keys, where tourists have flocked over the past several months. The numbers represent the total amount of bed tax dollars from properties rented out for a period of six months or less.

In February, the county took in more money from bed tax than any month in the last two years, nearly $6.8 million. That was the highest since $6.9 million from March 2019.

March 2021’s $9.2 million is an enormous increase — 1,829% — from the nearly $478,000 gathered in April 2020, Steele said. That was the lowest total ever recorded due to Monroe County’s checkpoints that kept out visitors along with a statewide vacation rental ban, Steele said.

Across the Keys, tourism is flourishing.

“We’ve been extremely busy,” said Judy Hull, executive director of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce. “Monroe County has been showing 95 percent occupancy. I think because of the pandemic people have come here because they feel safe if their activities are outside or they’re in the water with just their family.”

But at the same time, businesses across the island chain are struggling to find enough workers, officials said.

“Everyone is hiring,” Hull said. “That’s our most critical problem at the moment.”

It’s the same in Key West.

“We have a worker shortage right now,” said Robert Goltz, executive vice president of the Greater Key West Chamber of Commerce. “Probably my biggest task at hand is to try to remedy that.”

Lodging and restaurants are taking some of the biggest hits, Goltz said.

“Some of our restaurants have to cut down days that they’re open,” Goltz said. “We’ve seen many restaurants cut down from seven days a week to six or five because they don’t have enough staff.”

Monroe County’s unemployment rate in March was the lowest in the state at 3.3%, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Key West hotels and one in Sunny Isles Beach made Tripadvisor’s Best of the Best list