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Travel Experts Praise The Paradise Coast
February 15, 2006

The list of awards and honors continues to grow for the Paradise Coast of Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades.

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TRAVEL EXPERTS PRAISE THE PARADISE COAST Naples, Marco Island & the Everglades Win Top Recognitions

Naples, Fla.(February 15, 2006) – Southwest Florida’s Paradise Coast(SM) continues to win recognition from a variety of travel journalists and experts in numerous ‘Best Of’ categories and lists. Following is a list of recent accolades for Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades.

Condé Nast Traveler magazine selected Naples, Florida as one of the 20 Best Beaches in America in its February 2006 issue. The article singles out Naples for its beautiful downtown, excellent sidewalk cafe dining, and for its effective and educational signage showing concern for local wildlife at area beaches. The article, by Ron Hall, includes mentions of the beach at Naples Pier and Clam Pass Beach Park.

The Travel Channel named Naples, Florida as America’s Best All-Around Beach for 2005. Naples was selected because the destination provides something for everyone – from golf, shopping and dining to fantastic shelling around nearby Marco Island, family fun, and exciting natural adventure in the Everglades, as well as beautiful white sand beaches. Travel editors from Conde Nast Traveler magazine, USA Today and Fodor’s served as the 2005 Beach Week Expert Panel for the selection. Naples was prominently featured in the ‘America’s Best Beaches’ program on the Travel Channel.

Travelocity editors named Barefoot Beach Preserve in north Naples as one of the Top Ten Less-Traveled Beaches (for Final Summer Getaways and Beyond). Editors chose Barefoot Beach Preserve because of its natural, peaceful atmosphere and varied habitats, including mangrove estuary, tropical coastal hammock, sand dunes and natural, white sand beach. Barefoot Beach Preserve joins other natural, secluded beaches from around the world on this prestigious list, including Loblolly Bay Beach in the British Virgin Islands, Wa’Omoni Beach Park on Barbuda and Barking Sands Beach on Kauai, Hawaii.

Naples has also been dubbed the #1 Small Art Town in America by author Robert Villani in the fourth edition of The 100 Best Art Towns in America, distributed in March 2005 by publisher W.W. Norton. In choosing Naples as No. 1, Villani cited the area’s “amazing range of natural splendor,” along with its “sophisticated and serious art galleries,” its art fairs, community arts centers and theaters and the Philharmonic Center complex” that includes the Naples Museum of Art.

TravelSmart, the nation’s oldest consumer travel newsletter, has selected the Naples Museum of Art as one of the ten best museums in the state of Florida. The designation appears in the September 15, 2005 issue of the publication. www.travelsmartnewsletter.com

Florida Monthly has named Ochopee resident Clyde Butcher as Best Florida Artist in its 10th Annual Best of Florida Awards profiled in the September 2005 issue. This is the sixth time that Butcher has received the honor from Florida Monthly. Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery is located within the Big Cypress National Preserve halfway between Naples and Miami. He is famed for his striking, large format black & white photography of the Florida Everglades.

Yahoo! Travel users selected Naples as one of the top ten USA beaches in a 2003 poll commissioned by National Geographic Traveler magazine.

The Paradise Coast of Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades uniquely combines beautiful beach resorts and natural wilderness perfect for outdoors exploration. To discover why the area is known as Florida’s Last Paradise(SM), visit www.paradisecoast.com or call 1-800-688-3600 to request a free visitors guide. The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official tourism marketing agency for Collier County, Florida, funded entirely by the Collier County tourist development tax. ###