Central Oregon was relatively fire free this summer, but higher gas prices, a slow economic recovery and the post-Sept. 11 slump still hampered many local tourism-dependent businesses.

A survey of area lodging properties by the Central Oregon Visitors Association (COVA) showed occupancy slightly down to relatively flat during June, July and August compared to the same months last year.

One major difference this year is Labor Day weekend falls entirely in the month of September, creating weaker August turnouts.

Despite flat occupancy rates, lodging revenue grew 4 percent to 6 percent this year because of a slight increase in rates at destination resorts.

From January to July, lodging numbers were up 3.5 percent for the Central Oregon region over last year, according to a survey by Smith Travel Research.

Lodging statewide grew 5.5 percent during the same time period.

”5.5 percent is booming compared to many states across the nation,” said Alana Audette, executive director of the COVA. ”Even in Central Oregon with 3.5 percent, we are glad it is a positive number, it could have been a lot worse.”

Audette said the first quarter of the year was uncharacteristically strong but, by the second quarter, numbers started to level out.

Travel patterns are also showing there has been a slight increase in the number of trips travelers are making to the Oregon Coast.

”It’s not enough to be alarmed,” Audette said. ”What we are finding is it isn’t translating to overnight stays … but it could be cutting into trips to Central Oregon.”

At Black Butte Ranch, more visitors stayed this year compared to last year when fires forced road closures on Highway 20, but general manager Loy Helmly said the resort was still down 10 percent to 12 percent compared to average years.

Labor Day weekend, which is typically 100 percent booked, is at about 90 percent booked this weekend, Helmly said.

”We thought that business would rebound more strongly, but because of the fires the last two years, the memory appears to be too close for (visitors),” Helmly said. ”They might have decided to just go to the coast this year and not take the chance.”

The Inn of the Seventh Mountain said it experienced a soft June, but overall reported a 5 percent increase in occupancy.

Recreation activities at Inn offers didn’t fair as well.

Davis Smith, director of sales and marketing for the Inn, said rafting trips the resort offers down Deschutes River’s Big Eddy were about 10 percent down from last year.

Smith said the drop was surprising because there weren’t any problems with fires and the weather remained relatively warm throughout the summer.

”The industry took a downturn after 9/11 and people in the region began traveling locally, but things have settled down and people are more comfortable flying again,” Smith said.

Dennis Oliphant, owner of Sun Country Tours rafting, said the season was a ”roller coaster ride” of ups and downs, but ended flat overall compared to last year.

”Everyone, whether it’s in outfitting or lodging, is hoping that we see the good old days again, when we had significant growth,” Oliphant said.

Oliphant said one trend he has noticed is families increasingly planning vacations around their kids’ year-round sports schedules.

He mentioned families he knew who were going to Las Vegas for gymnastics meets, Bozeman, Mont. for wrestling matches and Denver, Colo. for roller hockey events.

”Kids are competing in these events and it’s not only taking a significant part of the budget, but a good part of the family vacation is spent there as well,” Oliphant said.

Greg Price, owner of Deschutes River Outfitters, said guiding businesses in general have been on the decline since Sept. 11.

”The shop side held steady, we didn’t have any jumps, but we saw a decrease in guiding business,” Price said.

About the same number of people got gear and climbing instruction from First Ascent Climbing Services in Terrebonne this summer.

”It was pretty close to last year, no better, no worse,” said Carol Simpson, owner of First Ascent. Last year Simpson said the business had about 213 user days, which is about the same as last year.

Before Sept. 11, Simpson said she was averaging about 250 user days.

Fewer people visited the High Desert Museum this year.

”It has been soft, which is indicative of the region in general,” said Wendy Brinkley, director of marketing for the High Desert Museum.

All the numbers hadn’t yet been calculated so Brinkley couldn’t give an exact percentage of how much visitation was down.

Brinkley said about 75 percent of the traffic through the museum during the summer months is generated by out-of-area visitors.

While higher priced recreational activities may have struggled this year, day trips to parks increased.

Day use visits at state parks in Central Oregon rose 5.8 percent this fiscal year, from July 2003 to June 2004, according to Tom Hughes with the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department. Overnight use declined 1 percent, or by 3,000 people over last year.

Camping at sites in the Willamette and Deschutes Forests exceeded last year when fires threatened the closure of many sites, but the numbers were still lower than anticipated.

”Overall I think we did have a good year, we were down a little bit from our budget I think because of the high price of fuel,” said Chuck Shepard, president of Hoodoo Recreation Services.

Hoodoo manages more than 70 U.S. Forest Service campsites throughout the Cascades.

Shepard said one thing he noticed was a decline in the number of out-of-state campers.

Retail numbers were similar to lodging numbers according to the COVA survey, with sales ranging from slightly down to slightly up.

In Sisters, steady traffic through town and no fires or smoke helped give many businesses a needed boost over last year.

”In comments I’ve heard, businesses are saying it’s a little better to 25 percent better than last year,” said Ric Nowak, executive director of the Sisters Chamber. ”There weren’t any downers.”

Kristy Hessman can be reached at 541-383-0350 or at khessman@bendbulletin.com.