2/4/1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PF - FEB FEB 04 �o� °� F*.1,E' reports from hotels with 1 to 50 rooms because they tend to think the study will not benefit them and they may not keep the data requested in the questionnaire, but he was confident the response from that group will improve. Commissioner Scurlock asked how the report will compensate for the downturn in our economy. Dr. Redmond said that would be measured against figures from past years, where those figures are available. From his experience in Palm Beach and Broward Counties he knows the hotel occupancy in those counties is down this year also. Commissioner Bowman asked what period of time the study will cover, and Dr. Redmond responded there will be monthly reports through December 1992, which is three months beyond the County's fiscal year. Dr. Redmond directed the Board's attention to another table which compares beach hotels to inland hotels. For purposes of this report, beach hotels would be those east of the Intracoastal Waterway and not necessarily on the beach. Again, this table showed a drop in occupancy. Table 5 compared occupied room nights. Dr. Redmond explained that "room nights" means the number of rooms in a hotel times the number of nights in the particular month those rooms were occupied: For example, 100 rooms X 31 nights = 3100 room nights. That same table shows lodging revenues, and Dr. Redmond explained that occupied room nights and lodging revenues may be inconsistent because sales tax figures are reported late. Commissioner Wheeler asked whether the study shows a comparison of lodging revenue versus bed tax revenue. Dr. Redmond responded that the figures for bed tax revenue for the month of December 1991 are not yet available. They are usually two to three months behind. He said that as figures become available he will make that comparison. Commissioner Scurlock asked about the mechanism of reporting on units that have 1-, 2-, 3 -week or 1 -month rentals. Dr. Redmond stated that is done by mail and some of them have responded. Dr. Redmond directed the Board's attention to the tables showing room rates. His conclusion was that rates have come down slightly, and his experience is that when occupancy is down, hotels will tend to drop their rates. He also noted that beach hotels dropped their rates more than inland hotels. There is a table which shows the origin of tourist parties. Dr. Redmond felt the Board would not be surprised to see that the majority of people who stay at hotels in Indian River County are 18