LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Visitor numbers are looking very good for Lee county for June, and that points to a strong summer for tourism.  234,000 people came to Lee, higher than in 2008, when 199,000 visited.

"The June numbers are very strong and encouraging," said Tamara Pigott, director of the Lee Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB).

What's more, people are spending more money than in recent, recession-tight years. In June of '12, visitors spent $106 million, up from $101 million in June of 2011.

Pigott credits pent-up demand, and targeted marketing on the internet.

"We can now pinpoint our messages on the internet, and just reach people who are truly interested in certain things, like kayaking, or shelling. It sharpens the message and we get a lot of reaction and response to those kinds of messages. We can do that with the digital, online marketing," said Pigott.

Andrea Carriere, owner of Silver Sands resort on Fort Myers beach, agrees that this summer is going quite well. 

"We have money in the bank in August, and that is a strange thing to be able to say," she told WINK News.