Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades Hotels & Attractions Re-Open after Hurricane Wilma.

NAPLES, Fla. -- The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau reports that many hotels and attractions are back in business in Collier County, Florida, as the area continues its recovery from Hurricane Wilma's landfall earlier this week. All the area's beaches are

"The storm brought lots of keepsake shells to our beaches and fortunately did not take away much sand," said Jack Wert, tourism director. "Our natural dunes did their job by holding the sand in place so that it did not wash back out to sea with the high surf and wind-driven waves brought by Wilma."

This Saturday, October 29, the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa will hold a free beach party on Marco Island to celebrate the area's amazing recovery from Wilma, and to allow area residents and visitors to see for themselves how fortunate Marco Island was to be spared any severe damage. All are welcome to come to the beach in front of Quinn's on the Beach restaurant from 4:30 pm to 10:00 pm to enjoy tropical music, half-priced drink specials and frequent drawings for gift certificates and other giveaways. The resort is offering complimentary parking in its lot along Collier Boulevard. For information on the beach party, call the resort at (239) 394-2511.

The annual October Swamp Buggy Races have been postponed from this weekend to a future date to be announced. For information on the upcoming 2006 swamp buggy race weekends in January and March, visit www.swampbuggy.com.

Gasoline is in good supply in Naples and Marco Island. Marco Island's hotels are all open. Naples beachfront resorts are either open now or will re-open this weekend. Many inland hotels are also open while others await power restoration. For more information on the destination visit www.ParadiseCoast.com or call the Hotel Hotline at 1-800-785-8252 to find information on hotel availability.

DESTINATION UPDATE

OPEN HOTELS

Bellasera Hotel, Naples

Best Western Naples Plaza, Naples

Captain's Table Lodge & Villas, Everglades City

Comfort Inn & Suites, Naples

The Boat House Motel, Marco Island

DoubleTree Guest Suites, Naples

Edgewater Beach Hotel, Naples

The Inn on Fifth, Naples

LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort

Lemon Tree Inn, Naples

Hampton Inn Naples

Hampton Inn I-75

Hilton Naples

Ivey House B&B, Everglades City

Marco Island Lakeside Inn

Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa

Marco Beach Ocean Resort

Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club

Radisson Suite Beach Resort on Marco Island

Registry Resort & Club, Naples

Vanderbilt Inn

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Beach Resort - opens Friday

...More hotels are opening each day...

OPEN ATTRACTIONS

Everglades Angler - Orvis-endorsed backcountry fishing guides

Fifth Avenue South

Marco Island Ski & Watersports - guided waverunner and boat shelling tours to Cape Romano, the site where Hurricane Wilma first made landfall.

Naples Dinner Theater

Naples Pier

Naples Princess Cruises

Naples Visitor & Information Center

Naples Water & Land Tours

Waterside Shops

ATTRACTIONS STILL CLOSED

Big Cypress National Preserve

Everglades National Park

Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens