Florida Keys businesses this week reported a better-than-expected holiday season, citing an uptick in South Florida and European tourists who weren't afraid to spend their money.

The global economic crisis had most Monroe County business owners and tourism officials worried that the so-called "Hell Week" -- typically the busiest time of year, between Christmas Day and New Year's Day -- would not be so hellish after all. On Friday, many of them were all smiles.

"We broke our all-time lunch record on New Year's Day -- that's for 25 years," said Jed Tenney, manager of Louie's Backyard at 700 Waddell Ave. The restaurant served 208 lunches, five more than its previous record. "We're having a great, great week. I think it's going to slow down again, but we're happy."

Foreigners, mostly from Europe and Asia, were a significant part of the influx at Louie's.

"I would say 40 percent of our lunches on New Year's Eve were Europeans. That's quite a bit for us; usually it's about 10 to 20 percent," Tenney said. "They're from every European country, not just one place."

Tenney, whose family owns the restaurant, said while the week was a boost, it was not enough to make up for the fact that business was 10 to 15 percent off this year.

"That's OK, we can live with that," he said. "But now we're exceeding what we did last year."

The Monroe County Tourist Develop-ment Council anticipates the Smith Travel Survey it will receive next week will show increases in occupancy, sales tax and bed tax, based on anecdotal evidence it has received from the Florida Keys chambers of commerce.

"People are just pouring into the Key Largo visitors center to get information," tourism council Executive Director Harold Wheeler said, adding that those numbers are a good indication of new visitors. "We are forecasting this will continue along with a shorter length of stay until consumer confidence increases," which, based on Friday's stock market increase, is a good indicator that it's on the horizon, he said.

A Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce survey, for example, showed that many hotels in the Big Pine Key area were booked, with between 30 to 50 new groups of visitors -- which could be anything from a family of six to two couples traveling together -- arriving each day.

"All of Big Pine has been packed ... and I heard the restaurants in Marathon were packed, too," said chamber Executive Director Carole Stevens. "Our visitors guide tells us that a lot of them are from South Florida, North Carolina, overseas ... and the quickie drive-downs from Georgia, Alabama, Virginia."

Many of those tourists have stopped in for information on where to stay, shop and eat, Stevens said.

"Our members were a little concerned about this week, but basically they're very happy," she said. "I believe it has been a shot in the arm for the Lower Keys businesses, as well as Key West and everywhere else."

Wheeler said the difference between this and past holiday seasons is that the typically slow week leading up to Christmas was busier than usual.

Winter weather in the North and falling gas prices are driving the market here, Wheeler said. He also credited the council's marketing efforts in Europe and recent domestic marketing campaign using $500,000 in emergency funds from reserves.

"We didn't want to wait until there was a full-blown crisis," he said. "We used the money to protect the winter season."

Wheeler said he anticipates business now will drop off for a couple of weeks until the end of January, when it is expected to pick back up again.

Until then, locals will bask in the glow of a golden week.

"I think that there was a fine line from when business improved, and that line was when the people who were here the few days before Christmas left and the people who are here now came in for New Year's," said Andy Gelman, owner of the Jewelry Station at 626 Duval St. "Business went from OK to good to better than I had hoped for."

Business began picking up during the powerboat races, Gelman said, and he credited locals for a good Christmas. Now he's banking on visitors with more discretionary income.

"I don't see the reluctance to part with money as I did with the people before Christmas," he said. "Before Christmas, they were families and they were here with their children, and maybe they spent their money on watersports activities and museums. The people here now are adults, traveling without children, and they came here to party."

Not everyone was as exuberant about the holiday crowds and business climate.

Mark Rossi, a Key West city commissioner and owner of the Rick's Bar and Durty Harry's entertainment complex in the 200 block of Duval Street, said business has improved, but he was cautious about the future.

"It was a little slower for us than the same time last year," Rossi said. "There was a lot of people and it was a good New Year's, but I think it was a little smaller this year, maybe because it fell in the middle of the week. People are tightening their wallets and you can see it. That's the best way to say it."

Earlier this year, charter fishing boat captains were lamenting the economy and gas prices and some were going out of business because of them. Now they're busier.

"I ran the last five days," said Jay Weed, who owns the Lucky Fleet behind Turtle Kraals.

If business was off for him this week, it was because of other factors.

"I lost my trip for today because people are worried about the weather because the Weather Channel was wrong," he groused.

As he continued to talk about the increase in business, Weed had to cut the interview short, as a group of tourists approached to book a charter for the afternoon.

Citizen staff writer Adam Linhardt contributed to this report.

csmith@keysnews.com