Saturday, August 31, 1996

Texas Tourist Season Better than Most

By Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) - The Texas tourism season wasn't as great as last year, when hotel occupancy hit record highs, but the industry still says it was better than most.

Labor Day weekend marks the close of the summer travel season. Official visitor figures are not yet available, but hotel occupancy - the next best indicator - was down slightly statewide in July, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

The state's average hotel occupancy last month was 70.4 percent, down from 71.0 percent last year, according to PKF Consulting, a Houston-based hotel industry consulting firm.
The beach destinations of Corpus Christi, South Padre Island and Galveston had the highest average occupancies at more than 80 percent each.

The summer drought affected tourism, especially water-dependent areas such as the inner-tube and rafting areas of the Hill Country.

"The perception of there being no water in the Hill Country kept people out of the Hill Country this summer," said Don Hansen, executive vice-president of the Texas Hotel and Motel Association.
With some kids going back to school as early as Aug. 5, theme parks and other attractions had a shortened season. It currently is open on weekends only.

The $24.5 billion industry was still happy, though, because this summer may have marked the return of the long family vacation.

Galveston, which underwent a $5.9 million beach cleanup and restoration last year, reported big increases in families visiting its alcohol-free beaches.

The island started a "beach nourishment" program last year to respond to criticism that its beaches are too dirty and uninviting to families. It cleaned and expanded the beach along a 51-block length of the seawall.

The city also piped in 710,000 cubic yards of sand to rebuild beaches directly in front of hotels, and set out chairs and umbrellas. Most areas were designated alcohol-free.

"The seawall every weekend just had cars taking up every available space," said Wendy Dehnert, executive director of the city's Park Board of Trustees. "We did notice we had more families. That's basically our target market."

The first-place Texas Rangers probably made staying in Arlington longer and visiting Six Flags Over Texas even more popular.

"The idea of staying a few days is catching on dramatically, and the Rangers are helping," said park spokesman Bruce Neal. "It's starting to be something for the whole family to do together."

Before summer, 54 percent of pleasure travelers surveyed by AAA said they planned to take their children with them - the highest percentage ever.

Travelers also said they planned to spend an average 8.5 nights away from home on their longest trips, up from 7.9 nights last summer.