They're still coming to Sisters

The economy is still in a slump and nobody is expecting a swift and strong recovery in the housing market.

But tourists are still coming to Sisters - much more so than to other communities in Central Oregon.

According to room tax report data released by the Central Oregon Visitors Association (COVA), Deschutes County's room tax revenue dropped by 9.5 percent over fiscal year 2008/09 from FY 2007/08. (The fiscal year runs July-June.)

The City of Bend was down 14.13 percent while Redmond dropped 14.3 percent.

The bright spot was the City of Sisters, which was up 9.52 percent.

That good economic news has to be tempered somewhat: part of that increase is due to a big August-to-August jump of 97.47 between 07/08 and 08/09 due to wildfires in August 2007 that depressed room reservations well below normal levels.

But even with rough norming to allow for that anomaly, Sisters' room tax revenues remain on the plus side of the ledger by at least 5 percent, which for those tasked with stoking the fires of Sisters economy is a reason for mild celebration.

"That's a pretty strong number there, especially when you compare it to Bend," said Erin Borla, executive director of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce.

Borla noted that it is a lot easier to fill Sisters' limited hotel space than it is to fill the thousands of rooms in Bend.

"You could fill (Sisters') 700 hotel rooms with three weddings," she said.

Still, the degree of occupancy is a good indicator of a healthy tourist climate.

Numbers are not yet available for the crucial July-August period, which is traditionally the peak time for tourist travel to Central Oregon. June's numbers were down 1.77 percent.

Borla said that one hotelier had told her numbers were up slightly for July and off for August. However, Borla notes that the anecdotal evidence suggests that August is doing pretty well.

Borla noted that the Chamber has a booth at the Oregon State Fair this year and will be promoting off-season tourism to Sisters.

"We're headed to the state fair to bring more people down for the fall and winter seasons," she said.