.For the first time, hotel lodging revenue is up 1% to $23.9 million. The council's report for June shows the bed tax also rose 1% for a record $957,355 in one month. Palm Beach County charges a 4% tax on every room sold.

Increasing revenue goes against some of the other statistics in the report. Rooms sold declined 14.7% to 248,426 and repeat visitors are down 13.4% from 82.5% in June 2001 to 69.1% for this June. Even the occupancy rate is down 2.1% to 61.1%. Despite this. daily rates have hedged up .9% to an average of $91.19.

The report says business travelers have been a key factor in the increased revenue. In a stagnant market, booking for business conference rooms and convention centers rose 5.5% to 37.8% in June.