Hotel Occupancy Heading South

ORLANDO-For the first time since the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc. started keeping detailed monthly occupancy and room rate records in 1989, the area’s 117,000 hotel rooms dropped to a 65.7% level. That’s 13.3% below the May 2000 level of 75.8%.

The previous lowest May occupancy mark on record is 68.8% in 1994. The national average for May was 63%, according to Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, TN.

That still leaves Orlando inns ahead of the main pack but not good enough for an area that depends on the daily 5% room tax to generate an average $110 million a year in funds for general tourist promotion.