Hoteliers enjoy an upswing in occupancy

Andrew Edwards

Local hoteliers said they were encouraged by statistics that suggest

travelers have been returning to local hotels after a couple lean

years for the hospitality industry.

“We’re still not at 2001 levels, but at least the needle’s going

the right way,” said Marta Hayden, executive director of the Newport

Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau.

Figures released recently by Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee

company that compiles statistics on the hotel business, show that

during 2004, the average room rate for a Newport Beach hotel jumped

6.5% to $134.47 per night. The rebound was recorded after two

consecutive years of room-rate declines in the city.

Smith Travel’s figures for 2003 showed average room rates were

slightly lower, 0.9%, than 2002 figures. In 2002, Newport Beach hotel

rates fell 10.8% on average to $127.42.

Poor business in 2002 and 2003, Hayden said, could be attributed

to multiple factors, such as security concerns related to the Sept.

11 attacks, the war in Iraq and the slow economy of the last few

years.

“Psychologically, there may have been a fear of traveling ...

couple that with the downturn in the economy,” Hayden said.

Another report from PKF Consultants, an Atlanta company that also

tracks hotel trends, listed Newport Beach’s average hotel rates for

2004 at a slightly higher price, $140.34. No specific data for Costa

Mesa was included, but rates at hotels in the area around John Wayne

Airport climbed from $94.41 to $98.07.

Hayden and Joe De Dio, president of the Costa Mesa Conference &

Visitor Bureau attributed the apparent comeback to a general upswing

in the local economy and marketing efforts.

The Newport Beach bureau, Hayden said, received additional funding

from the city of Newport Beach last July that allowed bureau staffers

to market Newport at additional trade shows. Costa Mesa Conference &

Visitor Bureau spokesman Dan Pittman touted the bureau’s drive- or

fly-and-dine promotion, which provides hotel guests with vouchers for

Costa Mesa restaurants and gas or airfare.

At the Newport Channel Inn, business started to turn around in the

middle of 2003, general manager Brion Amendt said. During 2001 and

2002, the amount of foreign tourists staying at Amendt’s hotel fell,

but over the past year and a half, international travelers have been

returning to Newport.

Foreign tourists, especially those from Canada and Europe, have

been attracted to the United States because the falling value of the

dollar has made trips to America more affordable, Hayden said.

Amendt’s hotel primarily caters to leisure travelers, unlike the

Wyndham Hotel in Costa Mesa. Tom Smalley, the Wyndham’s general

manager, said his hotel mostly serves business travelers, and he

expects 2005 to bring more improvement if the economy improves.

“We are very excited about the change in the economy. It will be

business as usual soon,” he said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.