-November 11,2019-
Morro Bay like the rest of Central California is seeing fewer visitors this year compared to 2018. Morro Bay’s occupancy rate was 73% through September compared to 81% for the same period in 2018. Revenue per available room in Morro Bay dropped to $118 from $124 in 2018, city figures show.
Around the county the story is the same although it varies. The City of San Luis Obispo’s hotel occupancy is listed at 77% compared to 81% in 2018. Cambria is down 3 percentage points with Pismo Beach down around 3% as well.
This year we had no Highway 1 slide to worry about and in 2018 the massive slide closed the highway until July 20 of that year. Nevertheless, receipts have been down in 2019.
This year Santa Barbara has been down by less than a percentage point.Figures collected by STR suggest a slight decline around the state.
Fewer international travelers are coming into the state through LAX – down 1.38% through the first 9 months of the year. California airports’ domestic traffic increased 2.7 percent, and international traffic decreased -0.2 percent in August 2019 year over year.
This fall much for the state has been suffering wildfires that have hurt visitation around the the Bay Area’s wine country.Nevertheless. STR says the state’s highest room rate in September were in Napa Valley with an average daily rate of $415.