Parade Lights Up Hotel Occupancy

Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade lit up Orange County hotel occupancy in September, extending a summer-long winning streak for area innkeepers.

Countywide hotel occupancy averaged 75.3% in September, up from 68.9% over the same month last year, according to a study by Los Angeles-based PKF Consulting.

Hotels in North County saw the biggest gains, as occupancy jumped to 71.2%, from 63.8% in September 1995. Occupancy in Anaheim, Orange County’s largest hotel market and home of Disneyland, rose to 78.6% in September. That’s up from 71.7% over the same month a year ago.

“The bump in those markets was basically due to the Electrical Parade,” said PKF researcher Chris Chiotis. “It has really been amazing.”

Hotels around John Wayne Airport continue to benefit from robust business travel as September occupancy climbed to 69.6%, compared with 63.4% in September 1995.

For the first nine months of the year, countywide hotel occupancy averaged 76.4%, up from 72.6% over the same period last year.

Higher occupancy wasn’t the only good news for Orange County hoteliers in September. Countywide room rates averaged $79.99, up 5.6% from the same period a year ago.