Officials Blame Weather for Dip in June Tourism

No matter what local tourism officials do, success depends largely on something completely out of their control--the weather.

Bill Clawson, executive director of the Ventura Visitors Bureau, reported June hotel occupancy in Ventura at 63% this year, compared to 65.5% in 1994. In Oxnard, Carol Lavender, executive director of the Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau, said the occupancy rate was 55.6% for June, compared to 63.8% a year earlier.

“Occupancy was down in June due to a decrease in weekend business, and we can blame that on the weather,” said Lavender. “The sun was not out.”

Once the sun showed itself more frequently in July, tourism increased significantly, said Clawson and Lavender. Final occupancy rates for July have yet to be tabulated for Ventura, but officials expect significantly higher numbers.

And weather elsewhere in the state has a tremendous impact, said Clawson.

“When the summer heat kicked in in the inland areas of California in July, people began coming to Ventura,” he said. “If we can have them sweating through Thanksgiving, we’ll be fine.”