Porter County weighs in on tourism performance

Indiana Dunes Tourism Executive Director Lorelei Weimer disagreed with statistics on room occupancy rates cited Thursday by the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, based in Hammond.

Those statistics about room occupancy rates given by SSCVA President and CEO Speros Batistatos indicated Lake County outperformed other Northwest Indiana counties, and that Porter County's rate was 42 percent.

However, Weimer said, the Smith Travel Accommodations Report, or STAR, indicates Porter County had a 54.6 percent room occupancy rate for 2011.

"We do not judge the health of a destination by the room occupancy rate. Occupancy is so impacted by supply and demand," she said. "Two new hotels opened in Porter County last year. If you increase the supply by 10 percent, you can't use occupancy as a pulse."

Weimer said Porter County tourism officials focus on rooms sold and room revenue "as a better barometer" of tourism performance.

The STAR report is an analysis of a survey taken each month of hotels in a geographic area, such as a county.

Indiana Dunes Tourism contracts with Nichols Tourism Group based in Arizona to provide specific statistics and analysis of Porter County's tourism performance.

Weimer said visitors contribute more than $300 million each year to Porter County's economy, and she said visitor spending grew in Porter County even during the recession.

Batistatos said Friday the figures he quoted Thursday weren't directly from the STAR report because he didn't have it in front of him.

"They were mentioned in context to underscore the nature of our business," he said. "It was a harmless mistake."

To spike hotel occupancy throughout the area will take a coordinated effort and would benefit from a convention center facility, he said.