Most of Clallam County, riding on the allure of the Twilight novels and books, saw more tourists staying in hotels and motels last March than in March 2009, according to lodging tax revenues collected in May.
Overall, the North Olympic Peninsula saw an increase of about $6,915 over last year’s collections.
The state Department of Revenue collected $101,326 in lodging tax in May 2009 and $108,241 in May 2010 in the Peninsula.
The numbers from the state Department of Revenue reflect taxes from March visitation that are collected by the department in May.
Everywhere in Clallam County but within the Port Angeles city limit saw an increase over last year, while Jefferson County numbers remained relatively flat over last year.
Countywide, Clallam had $69,639 in lodging taxes collected in May this year, compared to 2009’s $66,927.
Jefferson County collected $41,314 — about $627 more than 2000 collections of about $40,687.
Port Angeles
The city of Port Angeles was the only area on the Peninsula that saw a decrease in visitation.
Revenue was roughly flat.
The Department of Revenue collected $25,293 from within the city in 2010 and in 2009 collected $26,935 in May.
“It wasn’t a real big month,” said Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Russ Veenema said.
“It was pretty much the same, but I was hoping for a slight bump up.
“It really wasn’t that surprising for March visitation.”
Veenema said he expects that revenue for the year as a whole will end up ahead of 2009 — which was the third best year on record for the area.
But he expects that the figures for April and May will be relatively flat, as well.
“Because May’s weather was just not that good, I’m not quite as optimistic as I was [about upcoming numbers], but property owners are still saying that there the interest level is really good for the summer.
“There seems to be some pent up demand in June, July and August.”
Unincorporated Clallam County saw the biggest boost since 2009, with revenue increasing from $13,982 collected in May 2009 to $18,379 in 2010.
Forks
Forks also saw a significant boost — from $10,431 in 2009 to $13,232 in 2010.
Forks Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marcia Bingham attributes the increase in Forks and unincorporated Clallam County to the Twilight saga, which has caused a fairly steady increase since it began to be a tourist attraction in 2007.
The four-novel vampire series, became an obsession for adult and teen women alike who started flocking to the town as the books became more popular.
When a movie version of the first book, Twilight, was announced in 2007 — and was released in November 2008 — hundreds of fans began visiting the North Olympic Peninsula.
“Every month, it seems like we have more than the last year,” Bingham said.
The movie based on the second novel, New Moon, was released in November 2009.
“With the next movie [“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”] coming out June 30 we are going to be deluged.”
In 2009, the Forks Visitor Center had 69,975 visitors.
Sequim
Sequim saw a slight increase from the $9,290 collected in May 2009 to the $10,023 collected in 2010.
“Over all things are looking really good,” said Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Vickie Maples.
The Holiday Inn Express in Sequim opened on April 1, 2010, so revenues from the hotel have not yet been tallied. April taxes will be collected this month and totals available in July.
“From all accounts things are going really well with [the Holiday Inn Express],” Maples said.
“They have a lot of resources for announcing their new location and it really gets the word out about the entire Peninsula — not necessarily just Sequim.”
Jefferson County
Both unincorporated Jefferson County and within the Port Townsend city limit were flat with small increases.
In Port Townsend, $21,826 in lodging tax revenue was collected in May 2010, just $489 more than last year’s $21,337.
Unincorporated Jefferson County went from $19,349 in May 2009 to $19,488 in May 2010.
Jennifer Wells MacGillonie, Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce interim executive director, said that flat numbers are encouraging during a difficult time in the travel industry.
“We are anticipating a really busy summer and expect to improve,” she said.
“The marketing plans are really paying off.
“We have our usual festivals and there a lot more groups coming into the area than in the past.
“We are looking forward to a busy and productive summer.”
She said that she doesn’t project how one year will do over another, but that the year appeared encouraging so far.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.