The county’s hotel market is entering a period of stability and moving towards growth, despite impacts from the two disasters last winter, according to reports discussed during the annual Travel Outlook tourism event held in Santa Barbara Tuesday.
In addition, the Santa Barbara Airport is on pace in 2018 for the second consecutive year of increased passenger trips.
More than 150 people, including county hospitality industry professionals, community leaders, and city and county officials assembled at the two-hour gathering presented by Visit Santa Barbara.
The event’s theme aimed to inspire the industry to move forward following December's Thomas Fire and the Jan. 9 Montecito debris flows.
A lodging forecast by CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research found the total number of occupied rooms in 2018 hit 1.54 million, a decrease compared to the 1.61 million occupied rooms in 2017.
Next year, the number is expected to increase to 1.61 million occupied rooms.
The average daily rate at hotels in the county dropped 4.7 percent in 2018 to $210, compared to $221 in 2017, according to CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research study.
Looking towards 2019, average room rates are expected to increase by 6 percent to $223.
“There are good increases in ADR,” said Bruce Baltin, a managing director of CBRE Hotels' Consulting.
Although 2018 has been a challenging year for the county, limited additions to the county hotel market in 2019 should help steer the market beyond the revenue-per-available-room level reached in 2017, he said.
The disasters caused closures for several South Coast hotels, including the Four Seasons Biltmore on Channel Drive (from January through May) and San Ysidro Ranch, which is still closed and expected to open in February 2019, according to CBRE.
In terms of new supply, the Harbor View Inn, at 28 West Cabrillo Blvd. in Santa Barbara, expanded by 34 rooms this year and the 161-room Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito will make its debut in January, presenters said.
No new hotesls are expected to open in 2018 and 2019 in the North County or in Goleta, which had two hotels open last year: The Hilton Garden Inn on Hollister Avenue and Residence Inn by Marriott on Hollister Avenue.
“Goleta submarket has done a great job at absorbing its additional supply,” Baltin said. “Occupancy is actually forecast to increase this year from 76.2 percent to 77.8 percent.”
David Bratton, founder and managing director at Destination Analysts, told attendees an online survey of American and international travelers found that one in five Americans are familiar with Santa Barbara County as a destination.
Bratton said the South Coast region was found to have positive appeal and good familiarity among travelers, with a strong inclination for travel among U.S. travelers.
However, travel to the United States by international travelers in general is being challenged by a perception of expensiveness compared to other countries and unfavorable currency exchange rates, Bratton said.
Eight percent of leisure travelers surveyed had visited the county in the past three years, compared to 25 percent of travelers who visited Los Angeles, Bratton added.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

