May Occupancy Figures Dip Slightly From Last Year

Fewer guests but higher room rates.

That was the story in May for Orange County hoteliers who continue to make up for sluggish room rates that plagued the local industry throughout the early ‘90s recession.

Countywide, hotel occupancy was 73.4% in May, down just slightly from 74.5% recorded in May 1996, according to a study by PKF Consulting, a Los Angeles-based hospitality consulting firm.

Anaheim, the county’s largest hotel market, was solely to blame for pulling down the overall average, as all other areas of the county reported occupancy gains.

Occupancy in Anaheim was 75.9% in May, down from 80.2% in the same month a year ago. Anaheim hoteliers, many of whom have reported sizzling spring occupancy rates, couldn’t say specifically why the May figures were off.

Bill O’Connell, a partner in four Best Western Stovall’s Inns in Anaheim, doubts that overall occupancy rates for 1997 will end up topping the stratospheric levels of 1996. Still, if room rates keep moving higher, he said, many hoteliers will see fatter profits in 1997 than they did last year.

Indeed, Orange County room rates are continuing their upward climb. The average price for a room in May reached $94.99, up 12.8% from the same month a year ago.

Rate increases were particularly brisk in the airport area, where heavy demand by business travelers pushed rates up an average of 16.3% to $97.51.