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Marketing familiar autumn events under one umbrella — the “Island Fallfest” — should help ensure Lee County remains a popular tourist destination after Labor Day, tourism officials said at an industry appreciation breakfast Friday morning.

The initiative is meant to help local resorts, hotels and special event organizers market a traditionally slow part of the year despite the weakened U.S. economy.

Annual multi-day events like the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival and the American Sandsculpting Championship will be included in the campaign, and officials are hoping the area’s resorts, hotels and other accommodations will create special visitor packages centered on the theme.

At least 14 multi-day events are scheduled in Lee County between early September and mid-November, including fishing tournaments, Ding Darling Days and Jazz on the Green at Estero Community Park.

“What we’re trying to do is tie all that together for the fall season,” said Lee Visitor and Convention Bureau spokesperson Nancy Hamilton. “That way we can market that time of the year more cohesively.”

About 190 industry professionals and tourism officials attended the breakfast to hear the bureau’s latest marketing plans.

During the program, VCB Executive Director Suya Davenport said upcoming challenges for the industry include high gas prices and low consumer confidence.

News outlets will start publicizing about the upcoming hurricane season soon, she noted, and water quality issues like red tide and red drift algae have also hurt local tourism during recent summers.

Tourism has an annual $2.5 billion impact on Lee County and employs about 40,000 workers, according to VCB statistics.

The county collected $23.1 million in bed taxes in fiscal year 2006-2007. By county ordinance, 53.6 percent of that money goes toward promoting tourism through the VCB.

Davenport outlined the bureau’s marketing plans, including print advertisements, e-newsletters and radio spots in summer markets including Tampa, Miami, Orlando and Palm Beach.

The Island Fallfest initiative will be in full swing this summer.

“We have been asking accommodations to build packages around that time period and we’ve got some pretty good response,” Davenport said. “The next step is reaching out to the events. We want to market our affordable season.”

Improving business from cost-conscious travelers may become a priority as many of the region’s lower priced lodgings struggled this past winter tourist season.

During a monthly Tourist Development Council meeting held after the breakfast, Davenport reported that hotel occupancy rates for March were down 9 percent from March 2007. Year to date, hotel occupancy was down 6.3 percent from 2007.

While higher end hotels, condominiums and vacation homes have been filled, lower priced lodgings experienced a decrease in revenue per available room of over 18 percent from the previous March.

“It wasn’t a bad March. We’ve had a variety of feedback and a lot of people were positive about March,” she said after the meeting. “When you talk about that affluent traveler, they’re not as affected and that’s carrying us. It’s the economy level that is down. That’s the traveler who is looking for value.”

Also at the TDC meeting:

• Edison and Ford Winter Estates won a national award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said Chris Pendleton, the estates’ president and CEO. The national award follows a $10 million restoration project that was completed in 2007.

• Davenport reported that preliminary tourism taxes collected in March were $4,944,241, an increase of 4.5 percent over March 2007.

• During March, 1,030,151 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida Regional Airport, a 4.7 percent decrease from March 2007.

• According to county research consultant Davidson-Peterson Associates, 497,385 tourists visited Lee County in March. Forty-two percent of those visitors stayed in paid accommodations. Visitors spent $417 million during the month.