Tourism shows modest upturn this year

Cash-strapped consumers apparently decided to spend a little money on an overdue vacation this spring and summer, a decision that boosted tourism in northern Nevada.

Cash-occupied rooms a figure that strips out the effect of casino's comp rooms rose by 5.6 percent in Washoe County during the first eight months of this year.

The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority said, too, the average rate for those rooms was up by 1.4 percent running $78.76 this year compared with $77.65 a year earlier.

The net: Hotel and motel revenues were up more than $10 million across the county.

Carson City saw a similar increase. Its Convention & Visitors Bureau says lodging occupancy in August was up 60 percent compared with 53 percent a year earlier, and room-tax collections were up 12.8 percent.

"What we are seeing is some pent-up demand," said Ellen Oppenheim, president and chief executive officer of RSCVA. "People who held back for some time are starting to travel a bit."

But budget-conscious consumers appear to be choosing to drive, rather than fly, on vacation trips, and they're looking for relatively inexpensive destinations.

That's drawing travelers from northern California, the primary market for Reno-Tahoe tourism, into northern Nevada.

"That is really great for us," said Candace Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The strength in the hotel business was noticeable across the Reno-Sparks region.

RSCVA said occupancy was up nearly 8 percent at downtown Reno hotels during the first eight months of the year, up 2.3 percent in Sparks and up more than 12 percent at Incline Village and neighboring communities along the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

Occupancy was flat in Reno suburban hotels a category that includes several large properties such as The Peppermill and Atlantis but that area posted a strong 5.3 percent growth in its average cash rate.

Monarch Casino & Resort Inc., the parent of Atlantis, reported last week that its revenues from its nearly 1,000 rooms rose during the third quarter to $6.4 million, an increase of more than 12 percent over last year's figures.

Suburban hotels, which range up $57.4 million in revenue during the first eight months of this year, account for the largest portion of the county's hotel revenues. Downtown properties generated $49.4 million in the first eight months of this year, north-shore hotels generated $16.1 million, and Sparks hotels accounted for $13.4 million.

Non-gaming hotels a group that includes the gaggle of business-oriented lodging facilities built in the past three years posted a 23.8 percent gain in occupancy during the first eight months of this year. Their average cash rate ran about $99 a night.

That growth is particularly noteworthy, Oppenheim said, because business travel accounts for no more than 25 percent of the visitors to Washoe County.

Bal Gosal, president of the Northern Nevada Motel Association, noted 2009's tourism figures were very weak, and that deflates some of the importance of this year's upturn.

"But anytime you can end a decline, that's good news," he said.

Gosal, whose Kishan Group operates the Super 8 Meadow Wood Courtyard in south Reno, said motel operators in the area continue to struggle with occupancy that is low by historic standards. Corporate travel remains slow, he said, and some downtown motel properties have been hurt by the loss of long-term rentals to construction workers.

That's led operators to tightly control expenses.

"A lot of us have rolled up our sleeves and cut our operating costs," Gosal said.