Before John Lai was president and CEO of the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, he was a hospitality executive, and thank goodness for that. Because no matter if the kitchen is on fire, guests deserve a top-notch experience, served by an unflappable host.
Sanibel and Captiva have been through much, much worse than kitchen fires lately. Since John took the chamber’s helm in 2017 following a career in hotel management, he’s faced a tourism-crushing red tide outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton.
In each, he steered the business community—comprised almost entirely of small, independent establishments—through economic recovery and lured back tourists, guided by the chamber’s consistent, candid messaging. “Not perfect, still paradise,” he relayed to the chamber’s 2 million website visitors and 100,000 social media followers after the spate of storms. In Ian’s wake, John first appealed to the day trippers, then enticed patrons to rediscover island restaurants, and now he is preparing a full-blown marketing push—the first since 2022. Not a single business that reopened after Ian has closed, he says, with evident pride. “It’s the power of community.”
John learned to navigate large-scale crises during the 2018 red tide outbreak, when 2,000 tons of marine life washed up on the region’s shores, resulting in economic losses totaling some $184 million. “You can sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen, or you can fight to make it right and make it better.”
Following the disaster, the chamber dove headfirst into environmental advocacy. “It was intimidating,” John remembers of those first sessions with government officials and conservationists. But the chamber presented previously unheard perspectives and data on the far-reaching harms of contaminated water. He believes the business lobby played a significant role in helping to propel state water quality initiatives to completion.
A year ago, John launched a first-of-its-kind leadership development program, Preserving Paradise, focused on advancing the islands’ economic and ecological well-being. He hopes other communities look to it as a model for smart growth and sustainable development.
This isn’t a typical mission for a chamber of commerce, but Sanibel—a city defined by environmental protectionism—isn’t a typical place. John, a native of Trinidad, fell in love with it as a teenager when his restaurateur parents came to manage an island eatery. Sanibel reminded him of home. The island welcomed him, and now he works to ensure others feel the same. “When you are on the verge of losing something that’s meant so much to your entire life, you fight like crazy to protect it,” he says. —J.R.