Sea World Attendance Tumbles 17.8% : Tourism Fell in April but Revenue Was Up

San Diego tourism slowed in April for the first time in months.

San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau figures indicate that April attendance at Sea World, a leading gauge of tourism, plummeted 17.8% from a year ago. Another gauge, the number of incoming air travelers, dipped 2% below last year’s figures--its first decrease since August, 1981.

ConVis spokesmen blamed the April declines on bad weather and an Easter holiday split between March and April.

But industry watchers, who noted a slight increase in the total number of overnight visitors to the city during April, saw little need for alarm.

“It’s something we’ll definitely keep an eye on,” said Ken Forbes, a research manager for ConVis. “But it’s like the adage says: ‘One month does not make a trend.’ Also, you’ve got to look at all the factors together--Sea World and air passenger arrivals are just two aspects. You’ve also got to look at the others.”

Spending Up 5.1%

Perhaps the month’s most promising statistic was the total amount of visitor spending, which rose 5.1% above last April’s figures, reaching $225 million, the bureau said. The increase brought the year-to-date total close to $1 billion, up 13.2% from the same four months last year.

However, ConVis also recorded a 6.1% decrease in hotel occupancy rates in April. Industry observers attributed this to the rapid construction of new hotel rooms.

Overall hotel demand, as indicated by the total of nights sold in city hotels, increased by 4.2% for April.

Greg Peerbolte, an accountant with the Laventhol & Horwath accounting firm, said, “Looking at our figures, it looks like demand for hotels actually increased. That wouldn’t indicate a drop in tourism but would lead me to believe the decline (in demand in April) was because of the construction of the hotels that recently opened.”

Of all the indicators listed by the bureau, the Wild Animal Park showed the greatest loss in April. The number of visitors to the park plunged 20.6% compared to a year ago. Year-to-date figures also showed the number of visitors to the park for the first four months were down 5.6%.

Blame It on Easter

ConVis officials linked most of April’s slumping figures to the 1988 Easter holiday, which ran from March 26 to April 3.

“Easter, which is always a big time for us, had something to do with (the drop), too,” said Dal Watkins, head of the bureau. “Many of the people came out early, and then for a large portion of the month it rained.”

The National Weather Service said it recorded 3.71 inches of rain in San Diego in April, up from the April average of 0.78 inches.

However, an official at Lindbergh Field said he couldn’t account for the drop in the number of incoming passengers and added the decline may carry over into the airport’s May figures.

“I was a little surprised at the numbers,” airport manager Bud McDonald said. “In March we were up 7% . . . but in April it just flattened out. Our May numbers are down, too, so it looks like it’s going to continue. And, frankly, I don’t know why.”

McDonald said the number of arriving passengers isn’t affected by the weather.

“I don’t think the rain gets into it. People don’t cancel their vacations because of rain.”

A spokeswoman for Sea World said the April drop was the first decline for the park this year. Nonetheless, she echoed the bureau’s optimism.

“These drops in attendance happen occasionally,” said Jackie Hill, Sea World’s public relations director. “Most of the time the tourists come out. For the year, we have about the same numbers as we did this time last year, and we are expecting this weekend to be a great weekend.”

Other April tourism figures showed attendance boosts. The San Diego Zoo saw a 1.6% increase, and the number of Old Town State Park visitors rose 4.5%. Border crossings at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa were up 11.6% .

“I don’t see anything on the economic horizon that would preclude people from coming to San Diego,” Forbes said. “I really can’t see anything that would have an impact on our tourism industry.”

Both Forbes and Watkins predicted an improvement in the industry, noting that the figures were nearly 2 months old.

“In conversations that I’ve had with business people since April, business has been better,” Watkins said. “I think it was an aberration, and we will see that the industry will bounce back in May.”