Local Hotel Occupancy Rates Remain Healthy

Visitors to Los Angeles County continued to pour into the region during the first half of this year despite paying roughly $5 more a night for accommodations compared with a year ago, the latest local tourism statistics showed. Occupancy at county hotels remained mostly unchanged, hovering at nearly 75% capacity, from January through June, compared with the same period in 1998, according to PKF Consulting, which tracks the local hospitality industry. At the same time, average nightly room rates rose 4% to $114.78.

Michael Collins of the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau said the numbers indicate that the region continues to be a hot travel destination. In addition, Collins said, higher room rates are a boon to the local economy, which relies on tourism as a top revenue generator. Hotel figures for June kept roughly in step with the first-half tallies. June occupancy was up nearly 2% while room rates increased 5% to $111.71.

June was even healthier among Orange County hotels, which suffered a sharp falloff in May given large-scale construction projects near key tourist attractions and weak convention business. The month saw occupancy increase 4% to roughly 70% capacity at county hotels. At the same time the average room rate grew 3% to $104.92. A strong June helped keep Orange County’s hotel occupancy virtually unchanged in the first half compared with a year ago and boost room rates 3% to $105.31.