Good news for San Diego hotels

Occupancy at San Diego hotels was up 5.9% to 72.5% year-to-date for April of this year versus the same period a year ago, according to Smith Travel Research figures. Average daily room rate rose 4.8% to $134.36 over the same period.

Local tourism expert Jerry Morrison notes that occupancy for year-to-date through April passed the rate for the same period of 2007, when the recession began late in the year.

Consistently, San Diego has lagged its 2007 performance while San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Orange County have been well ahead of their 2007 levels. San Diego's average daily room rate still slightly lags its 2007 year-to-date level, however.