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Hotel numbers are up in the Falls
Occupancy, room rates for local hotels increased in 2005
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Occupancy at hotels and motels in the Niagara region rose 7.4 percent last year despite the mid-summer cancellation of an advertising campaign designed to market the area’s tourism appeal.
Other barometers of the tourism industry’s health — including the average daily room rate and the revenue per available room — also increased last year compared to 2004, said John Percy, vice president of tourism and marketing for the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp.
Percy said indicators of the area’s hotel industry show signs that tourism in Niagara Falls is rebounding.
The increase will likely parallel a rise in bed taxes that are collected as a 4 percent surcharge on each hotel room in Niagara County. Bed taxes rose 20 percent in 2004. Figures for 2005 are not yet available.
“All these are phenomenal,” Percy said.
This is the second year in a row that occupancy rates increased after a dismal 2003 tourism season that saw the rate sink to less than 50 percent as the region dealt with an unusually wet summer, frequent travel warnings related to SARS and a soft economy.
Percy attributed the strengthening hotel indicators to several factors, including a $1 million advertising campaign the NTCC initiated in 2004, an increase in the number of people coming to the city because of the Seneca Niagara Casino and a stronger economy.
NTCC had to scale back its summer advertising campaign last year after money its directors had anticipated receiving from the local share of the slot machine revenue from the casino never arrived because of an ongoing dispute between state lawmakers over how the money should be spent.
Instead, NTCC borrowed up to $800,000 from the city to pay for a smaller advertising push with the expectation that it will pay back the municipality when the casino cash is apportioned.
Percy said the diminished 2005 advertising campaign may affect this year’s tourism season.
Percy, who will step into the role of NTCC president next month, made the comments during a meeting Monday of the city’s newly created Tourism Advisory Board.
The majority of the two-hour meeting focused on creating a positive image of Niagara Falls.
The advisory board, which met for the third time Monday, has been charged with examining and improving the city’s tourism industry.
“If we can’t own up to ourselves as being a beautiful city, then we can’t sell ourselves as a beautiful city,” said board member Susan Swiatkowski.
Denise Jewell writes for the Niagara (N.Y.) Gazette.
