
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994                   TAG: 9408300095
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Short

RAINY MIDSUMMER WEEKS WASH AWAY TOURIST DOLLARS

Hotel owners and merchants say tourism dollars dried up during the rainy weeks of July, but sales picked up in August and they're hoping for a big Labor Day weekend.

July was the wettest month on record for the area. But early August figures show oceanfront occupancy rates in the 92 to 95 percent range, said Jim Ricketts, director of the city's Department of Convention and Visitor Development.

``This is the best August we've had since 1992,'' Ricketts said.

Figures through the first two weeks in July were steady but down a percentage point or two from record rates posted last year, he said. Revenues were about the same because hoteliers raised room rates about 8 percent from 1993.

Retail sales across the city this summer have been up about 10 percent. But business owners along the oceanfront, where souvenir shops abound, have seen business decrease by 8 percent to 20 percent, said David Groth, a shop owner and president of the Resort Retail Association.

by CNB