Business: Tourism industry shows strength

Tourism industry shows strength

Leaders gathered for the Governor's Conference on Tourism say business has been good but not great so far this year.

By MARK ALBRIGHT

MIAMI -- Despite a bad start in January, Florida's tourism industry has been drawing more visitors in 2000 right through the summer season.

"After the slow start because of Y2K, everything took off," said Austin Mott, president and chief executive of Visit Florida Inc., the state's lead tourist marketing agency. "There was a little lull in May and June but everybody is telling us they are right on plan or ahead of it for the year."

A good year but not a great one was the consensus Monday as industry leaders gathered at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa for the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism. Gov. Jeb Bush, who is campaigning for his brother's run for president, did not make it. But industry leaders' main topic was business conditions as the Federal Reserve Board keeps trying to slow the economy.

"Normally all bets are off about tourism in an election year because the candidates talk so much about the economy," said Donna Ross, director of the Florida Attractions Association that represents 66 attractions. "But for the most part this has been a good summer."

"It's been okay," said Tom Waits, president and chief executive of the Florida Hotel and Motel Association. "The occupancy rates have been down a little so we're about back to 1998 (levels), but we've been able to keep raising the rates."

Experts say about half the decrease in occupancy rates is because of new hotel construction.

Competition has been brutal, however, in Orlando where three new theme parks that opened in the past year and a spate of new hotels are fighting for visitors' time and discounting prices to woo them.

Visit Florida, which keeps track of the number of Florida visitors, has no statistics to back it up this year because it changed the way visitors are counted. That makes comparisons impossible until September. Under the new formula, Florida hosted 58-million overnight visitors in 1999, about 10-million more than were counted under the old method in 1998.

This year, however, three of the four economic indicators being used as a barometer -- sales tax collections, resort tax collections on hotel bills and employment figures -- have been 4 percent to 6 percent ahead of 1999. Only the length of car rentals has slipped.

Officials think higher gas prices did little to deter vacationers this summer. "Gas prices were up just shy of the irritability factor," said Barry Pitegoff, vice president of research for Visit Florida.

International visitation is tracked by the Department of Commerce. That agency reported that Florida experienced a 4.4 percent decrease in overseas visitors in 1999 to 5.8-million. The trend has continued this year although it was offset by increased domestic travel and a 10 percent increase in Canadian visitors during the fourth quarter of 1999. "The Canadians are coming back," said Carole Ketterhagen, director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.