Take Two

By Ed Moosbrugger

October 14 -- Downtown hotels are coming off a solid summer season and looking forward to an extra boost when the American Film Market comes to Santa Monica in November for the second time this year.

“Summer was good, the best since 9/11, for sure,” said Dino Nanni, general manager of Hotel Shangri-La. Occupancy has picked up, and room rates have strengthened, he reported.

At the Best Western Ocean View Hotel, “Things were excellent this summer,” reported General Manager Robert Farzam. Indeed, business in July and August was back to the same level as in the strong year of 2000, he said.

But a return of business to pre-9/11 levels appears to be an exception; Nanni notes that business at Shangri-La is no better than before 9/11.

At the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, occupancy in August was a solid 84.9 percent, which was down from 89.8 percent a year earlier, but better than the 76.6 percent the hotel had planned for, said Desmond Acheson, interim general manager.

“It looks like we recovered faster than we expected,” he said.

Reflecting the stronger market, the Fairmont Miramar realized substantially higher average room rates than a year earlier. Business was flat in July, while the hotel probably will come out slightly ahead for September, Acheson said.

At the Georgian Hotel, “We’ve certainly met our expectations,” said General Manager Paul Hortobagyi.

Tourism officials are pleased with the upward trend.

“Santa Monica has held its own for the past year,” said Misti Kerns, president/CEO of the Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau.

During July, Santa Monica’s average room rate jumped to $222.84. This is a 9.6 percent increase from a year earlier, exceeding the county-wide average rise of 7.2 percent, according to PKF Consulting. The Santa Monica occupancy rate, however, rose only 2.2 percent to 83.65 percent.

For the first seven months of 2004, Santa Monica’s occupancy rate rose 5.1 percent to 79.88 percent. The average room rate jumped to $211.13, the biggest increase among Los Angeles County markets tracked by PKF.

Santa Monica is benefiting from an upturn in international visitors. A major factor: the strong European currency, which makes travel to the United States relatively cheap.

“Right now the Euro is extremely strong,” Hortobagyi noted. This has brought many first-time foreign travelers to the United States, changing the mix of tourists, he said.

Many of the first-time visitors are staying only a couple of nights in Santa Monica as they hop to different tourist attractions in the state and region, rather than staying longer in Santa Monica, he noted.

Whatever the case, more international visitors are showing up.

Farzam reported many Italian visitors during August, while Nanni has noticed a lot of English, German and Italian visitors and the beginning of a return of Japanese tourists.

Now, Downtown hotels and businesses are looking forward to the return engagement of the American Film Market from November 3 to 10. It will be the second time in Santa Monica this year for AFM, as it makes the transition to a fall market in the future.

“It is even sweeter that they will arrive in November, a month that historically has not been our strongest in revenues,” Kerns said.

A big reason for the shift to November was AFM’s desire to ally itself with the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, which will be held November 4 to 14 in Hollywood. Shuttles will move festival and market participants between Hollywood and Santa Monica.

As Jonathan Wolf, managing director of AFM, put it: “Commerce at the beach during the day and celebration of film in Hollywood at night.”

The AFI partnership will add excitement for attendees, and the pace of room reservations has increased, Kerns said.

The AFM is headquartered at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, but there has been so much interest in the fall market that the AFM has expanded its exhibitor space to include the adjacent Le Merigot Hotel.

With the focus on AFI in Hollywood at night, there could be a change in evening business patterns, but the level of entertainment and superior dining in Santa Monica should keep business here, Kerns said.

The convention bureau is distributing window placards to local businesses that welcome AFM visitors. It also is launching a Visitor Incentive Program (VIP) with the AFM attendees that allows local businesses to offer incentives directly to guests.