Bob Doak

Bill Mish said he uses the opening Riverbend weekend to gauge expectations for summer leisure travel.

“We fared very well. It seemed the downtown hotels were full or nearly full,” the general manager of the downtown DoubleTree said. “It will be interesting to see what the summer brings.”

Bob Doak, president and chief executive of the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said Chattanooga is more than holding its own when comparing hotel occupancy rates with those of other cities.

“There is no question we are outpacing other cities,” he said.

According to data compiled by Smith Travel Research, Chattanooga’s occupancy rate is down just 1.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2008.

Of the 11 other Southeastern cities to which officials typically compare Chattanooga, only the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area had a better occupancy rate, losing slightly less than 1 percent of its hotel visitors in 2009.

Figures depicting the revenue generated per available hotel room fell 4.8 percent for the February to April period in 2009 when compared to the previous year.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston The DoubleTree Hotel, located in the 400 block of Chestnut Street in downtown Chattanooga, opened after a $38 million renovation that was completed last October.

The Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area’s per room revenue fell 7.4 percent, yet cities such as Asheville, N.C., and Greenville, S.C. dropped almost 10 percent and more than 12 percent, respectively.

The revenue generated per available hotel room for the Southeast region fell 5.8 percent. The room revenue for the U.S. dropped 8.4 percent.

Mr. Doak said Chattanooga is fortunate to have a large “drive-in” base to draw from, citing the 9 million people that live within a 2 1/2 hour driving radius from the Scenic City.

“That’s a big market,” he said. “People tend to stay at home or close to home when people are nervous about their job or the economy. I think that is why Chattanooga is in a good place.”

Mr. Mish said group travel and business travel has been flat, which he said is a positive statistic since he has seen some steep drops in those areas in the recent months.

Mr. Doak said Chattanooga’s business travel should increase due to the Volkswagen project as well as projects at Alstom and BlueCross BlueShield. Business officials likely will travel here looking for opportunities with these companies.

“There’s a lot of action in Chattanooga,” Mr. Doak said. “We are seeing a buzz because of all the projects going on here.”