Hoteliers continue discounts

Hotel occupancies in Lee County continue to rise, but hoteliers are still aggressive with the rates that drive heads in beds.

Data from Smith Travel Research posted by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau shows a slight dip in average daily room rate in October compared with the same month one year ago, suggesting competition among hoteliers remains surprisingly stiff despite sharply higher occupancies.

In addition, the dip in October's average daily rate of $98.47, less than a 1% drop from the same month a year ago, also shows how consumers remain price sensitive when it comes to making hotel reservations.

Hoteliers always weigh rates with occupancy, trying to find the perfect balance. The function of those two numbers is revenue per available room, which rose 9.1% in October in Lee County to $47.99 compared with October 2011. That's due solely to the fact that occupancies rose 4.2 percentage points to 48.7% in October.