O.C. Hotel Occupancy Gains Nearly 10% Over Last Year : Tourism: Visitors are flocking to new Disneyland attractions. Bankruptcy hasn’t impacted area’s draw.
With a crack of Indiana Jones’ whip, Disneyland’s new attractions are powering Orange County to one of its best tourism years in recent memory, according to hotel occupancy figures released Monday that show impressive gains for the first half of the year.
Orange County hoteliers reported filling nearly 10% more of the rooms during the first six months of the year than in the same period last year. The results were even more impressive in Anaheim’s tourist district around the Magic Kingdom, which recorded a 22% boost in June alone over the same month in 1994.
“We’re having a great year,” said Bill O’Conner, general manager of the Stovall motel chain in Anaheim. “We haven’t had anything negative happen in the past year.”
In the past four years, the Southland tourism industry has been buffeted by earthquakes, riots, floods and wildfires--a seemingly endless stream of negative publicity.
Now the region’s tourist economy appears to be in solid recovery, industry experts say.
In Orange County, the increase is being led by Disneyland, which has spent lavishly to promote its Indiana Jones Adventure ride, and which added a stage show based on the animated movie “Pocahontas” this summer.
“We anticipate that 1995 will be our best attendance year in the history of the park,” spokesman Tom Brocato said. “We’re drawing from all areas, foreign, domestic and local.”
While Disneyland does not release attendance figures, a recognized trade publication has estimated that the Anaheim landmark has suffered an attendance decline every year since 1989, when it had more than 13 million visitors. The publication, Amusement Business, said Disneyland had 10.3 million guests last year, down 10%. Top Walt Disney Co. executives acknowledge that the year was a disappointment.
The Indiana Jones ride, which opened in the spring, remains one of the most popular new introductions in recent memory. Lines snake through Adventureland and often stretch to Main Street--a wait of two hours.
“When you see the gate open at 8 a.m., you would be surprised at the mad dash for Indiana Jones,” Brocato said.
The firm that compiles the hotel occupancy figures, PKF Consulting in Los Angeles, also reports that the occupancy rate of Disneyland-area hotels reached 84.3% in June, the first month of the critical summer season in tourism-dependent Anaheim.
“Disneyland is having a bang-up year,” PKF research associate Melissa Mills said. “The new ride is really doing a number for them.”
The rest of the summer, however, is uncertain. Knott’s Berry Farm started a discounting program for Southland residents on Saturday that knocks $5 off the price of an adult ticket. Disneyland is expected to resume its own discounting program soon as well. Discounting is usually viewed a sign of attendance weakness, though a Knott’s spokeswoman said it was part of the park’s seasonal marketing plan.
One of the brighter spots in the local tourism picture has been lack of any noticeable effect from the Orange County bankruptcy. With tourists seeing no decline in safety or public services, they are still showing up despite the county’s well-publicized financial difficulties.
“It’s a problem, definitely, for everyone in the county, and we’ve got to find a way to figure out that problem, but as far as tourism and conventions, there hasn’t been any impact,” O’Connell said.
Overall, Orange County had hotel occupancy of 68.7% for the first half of 1995, up from 62.7% in the same period the year before. Room rates were flat--up 0.7% to an average of $77.04 a night.
While Orange County was rolling to higher hotel occupancy, Los Angeles County hoteliers reported little change compared to the first six months of last year.
Hotel occupancy rates for the first six months of 1995 show Los Angeles County with a slight, 1.9% increase.
“Most of the people staying in the hotels [now] are leisure travelers, vacation travelers,” said Carol Martinez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Convention & Visitor Bureau. “It shows L.A. is doing really well, especially from the Japanese market because of the strength of the yen, and from Germany.”
The figures, prepared by PKF Consulting, show that tourism increased in most areas of Los Angeles County. The biggest increase was 17.7% in Long Beach, which has a new convention center addition. Hotel rates increased 2.7% to match the increasing demand.
The only three areas of Los Angeles County that registered large downturns in room occupancy for the first half of the year were downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley.
But Martinez said that many hotels in those areas had rooms filled last year with disaster victims, relief workers and World Cup soccer fans. This year, they are filled by tourists.
Overall, Los Angeles County had occupancy of 67.2%, up from 65.9% for the first six months of 1994. The average room rate was $84.79.
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Hotel Occupancy Climbs
Orange County’s hotel occupancy rate countywide jumped 9.6% while the average price for a room varied little. Here’s a comparison for the first half of the year with the same period in 1994:
OCCUPANCY RATE
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1994 1995 % change Anaheim 63.9% 71.3% 11.4% Airport area 64.6% 67.9% 5.2% North County 55.6% 61.2% 10.1% South County 55.9% 59.4% 6.1% Countywide 62.7% 68.7% 9.6% AVERAGE ROOM RATE Anaheim $82.45 $82.10 -0.4% Airport area $67.59 $70.39 4.1% North County $57.99 $57.85 -0.2% South County $80.58 $80.81 0.3% Countywide $76.54 $77.04 0.7%
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Source: PKF Consulting
Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times
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On Line for Indy
Even though Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride has been open since spring, the wait to take the ride is long even for a place renowned for long lines. The queue from the entrance of Indy’s temple snakes all the way through Adventureland to Main Street, and can last two hours.
New Orleans Square
Adventureland
Indiana Jones entrance
Main Street
Central Plaza
Park entrance
