Collier County’s longtime tourism director has decided to move on.

Jack Wert, who has served in the role for nearly 20 years, said it was time to “think about retirement” during a meeting of the Tourism Development Council Monday.

He then announced to the advisory board that he would resign at the end of September.

“I started in 2002. I said I would stay for five years and it’s been fun ever since,” said Wert.

He is convinced that “the right time” is for his departure, with the right leadership and the right team to carry the torch.

Wert has held the job since the founding of a district-run tourism office. Previously, he was CEO of the Visitor and Convention Bureau of Seminole County’s Central Florida for more than a decade.

While he will no longer run the district’s tourism office, he said he plans to stay in town.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be right here in Naples. This is the place that I really love. You can go anywhere in the world from here, so why not stay on Florida’s Paradise Coast? ”

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