L.A. Hotel Occupancy Falls for 2nd Straight Month

Hotel occupancy in Los Angeles County dropped for the second straight month in April as convention-related business lagged last year’s pace, local tourism officials said Monday. In April, the downtown Los Angeles Convention Center hosted just three trade and business gatherings compared with five last year. The shortfall meant that roughly 21,000 fewer convention-related hotel stays were booked in April than in the same month a year ago, said Michael Collins, executive vice president for the Los Angeles Visitors & Convention Bureau.

The drop helped trigger a slide in countywide occupancy of about 2%, Collins said. Local economists use hotel occupancy to gauge the strength of the region’s tourism industry. April’s decline followed a nearly 3% drop in March largely due to the impending closure of the Hollywood Holiday Inn.

Collins, however, expects occupancy to bounce back and remain strong through the rest of 1999. This year, the convention center will host a record 36 trade shows and expos, he said.

In addition, occupancy rates during the first four months of the year remained relatively unchanged compared with last year, even as cost per room night grew by 4%. County hotels were nearly three-quarters full through April despite a roughly $5 jump in the average room rate to $115.42.

Meanwhile, Orange County also posted a 2% drop in April occupancy as cost per room night rose to $104.09 from $102.86. Overall, Orange County’s occupancy January through April grew three-tenths of a percent and the average nightly room rate rose 4% to $107.23.