Easter, Spring Break Bless Resort Business

And right now, Disney's 18 hotels, 21,000 hotel rooms, 10 milion sf of retail-restaurant-commercial and four theme parks are beginning to bounce back gradually from dismal attendance figures immediately following 9-11, the company acknowledges.

But Disney representatives won't disclose specific attendance figures for the weekends of Palm Sunday, March 24 and Easter Sunday, March 31, even though area hospitality consultants independently put the number at about 50,000, the theme park's daily capacity before it has to close the turnstiles. Disney's Animal Kingdom attraction brought in its biggest crowds since it opened in 1998, the company says.

Representatives for Universal Orlando's two theme parks, which can hold 80,000 visitors daily, confirmed near-capacity numbers on Easter weekend at the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure attractions. Attendance equaled Universal's record December 2000 mark, the company says.

At the same time, the attractions' total 20,000 parking spots were less than full the rest of the week, Universal representatives say. Still, Universal and Disney executives remain optimistic the tourist attendance momentum will carry over to the summer and fall.

New preliminary figures from Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, TN support that optimism. Occupancy at some of the larger hotels hit 84.3% on Saturday, March 23, a day before Palm Sunday. That performance was up from an average 40% occupancy among the 113,000 hotel and motel rooms immediately following 9-11.

But not everybody in the industry thinks 80% occupancies are sustainable.

"It is unreasonable to expect occupancies to hold at 80% after the return of most travelers to work and school following the Easter/Passover holiday period and Spring Breaks," Robin L. Webb, a longtime Orlando hospitality industry consultant tells GlobeSt.com.

Webb says, "Such a continuation would represent performance at occupancy levels which have not be reached for late spring and early summer since 1981 when room supply in the market was less than 50% of what it is today."

Conversely, he says, "It is, however, reasonable to expect that occupancies in many properties, as I have contended since the Sept. 11 tragedy, will begin to reflect the trends of 2001 as the year progresses."

Lodging occupancies for April, May, and the first half June for the broad market should average about 65% to 68% (compared to 72% for the prior year), approaching an 80% target for the balance of the prime summer weeks," says Webb who is also vice president/managing broker at Arvida Realty Services Commercial Division, Winter Park, FL.

"As the recovery gains momentum, barring anything now unforeseen, the year 2003 should follow suit," Webb tells GlobeSt.com. The year 2003 will bring with it higher occupancies, improved average daily rates and a return of more conventioneers to the market, he says.

However, "on the shorter term, the stress on the lodging industry in Central Florida is a long way from over," Webb says.

The consultant's prognosis comes as at least 100 mom-and-pop hotel/motel operators struggle to make their annual $20,000 to $100,000 property tax payments on typical 50-room to 100-room properties to Osceola County tax collector Patsy Heffner.

The deadline was March 31. Late payers are automatically hit with a 3% penalty. Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to sign a 90 day extension that would be retroactive to March 31.

Also feeling the recession's brunt are the local governments which collect the 5% tax on each hotel room. Orange County, which used to take in an average $100,000 per year, collected $8.6 million in February, according to county comptroller Martha O. Haynie.

That number is down by 13.5% compared to February 2001 collections but was an improvement from January of this year when collections were down 22% from January 2001.