Biketoberfest keeps tourism running, posted in the Daytona Beach News Journal

DAYTONA BEACH -- Hotel operators in Volusia County, especially the east side, have looked forward to Biketoberfest for the past few years to help overcome a summer tourism season cut short by the early arrival of back-to-school in Florida.

But this year when the fabled special event rolls into town today through Sunday, it will serve more as the icing on the cake, according to a local tourism official.

"Biketoberfest is always a great economic pop for the economy," said Lori Campbell Baker, spokeswoman for the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Every year it brings quite a bit of money into the county and this year will be no different."

But this year, thanks to a later-school start (Aug. 20), area properties finished the summer season on the upside for a change. A check of public records shows through the first eight months of the year, the bed tax collected countywide is at about $6.34 million, an increase of about 3 percent despite the fact that late spring and early summer tourism -- specifically April and June -- were off this year.

"We're pretty excited about the figures we're seeing so far," Baker said.

Bob Davis, president of the Hotel-Motel Association of Volusia County, said occupancy for this year looks very promising based on comments he has heard from members of his group.

"Yes, (Biketoberfest) helps. Yes, it is a good event. And yes, it is a big boost," Davis said recently.

The Ocean Waters chain, with more than 2,000 hotel rooms spread among two dozen local hotels, is also expecting a boon from Biketoberfest after strong late summer bookings.

"Special events, in general, are very important to the Daytona Beach economy," said Tim Stockman, a vice president at Ocean Waters. "We look forward to a great event, with lots of visitors from all over the area coming to Daytona to enjoy our wonderful fall weather and everything that our city has to offer."

As a hotelier, I can tell you that I love these events but I have seen a sharp decline in the number of visitors over the last 2 years. At my hotel, I am running about 50% occupancy so far for the weekend. I expect to be at 80-85% occupancy, but 2 years ago I could have filled. Hopefully, things will turn around and the events will start bringing more bikers back into the area. I am looking forward to many more years of successful events in the Daytona Beach area.