In Time for Summer : Tourism: The California travel industry is optimistic that a slump caused by the recession and Gulf War is easing.

The travel slump brought on by the recession and the Gulf War shows signs of easing in California, just in time for the all-important summer travel season.

Lured by discounts on hotel rooms, air fares and attractions, consumers are booking vacations at near-normal levels, travel industry executives say, giving a much-needed boost to the state’s $48.5-billion tourism industry.

Tom Nulty, president of Associated Travel Services in Santa Ana, said leisure travel dropped 20% during the first three months of this year but rebounded in April. “We caught up and passed what we did last April,” he said. “We feel good about the summer.”

The vacation outlook isn’t cloudless. The discounting means that the travel industry probably won’t earn as much as it did in past years. And it isn’t clear whether big-spending Japanese tourists will set aside lingering fears of terrorism in time for summer vacations in California.

The recession is also having an impact on vacation travel plans. Flo Snyder, California director of tourism, said research conducted by the state shows that U.S. consumers plan to take shorter vacations that are closer to home. The trend may provide a boost to destinations that rely mostly on local visitors in normal times.

“We feel very good about the summer,” said Kim Gibbany, director of sales for the Village Inn in the Napa Valley community of Yountville. The 80-room hotel got through the spring travel slump by offering one-third-off room rates, she said. But now half the hotel rooms are booked at regular rates for July and August, mostly from people from the San Francisco area.

Similarly, Catalina Island, which draws 80% of its visitors from Southern California, expects a good year.

“The local chambers of commerce should be dancing in the street,” said Tim Smith, president of the San Diego Travel Group. He said San Francisco is a popular destination among Southern Californians this year.

Not every close-in vacation spot is doing well. John Poimiroo, a spokesman for Yosemite Park & Curry Co., said he expects the number of visitors to the national park to fall by 4% to 5% from a year ago. He said that although hotel rooms were booked for the summer, as many as 60% of the park’s tent cabins were still available during July and August. Normally, only 30% would be available in April.

Poimiroo reasoned that travelers this year might be pickier than in the past.

“Consumers are looking for good value for their money,” he said, noting that although the tent cabins are 50% cheaper than hotel rooms, they do not have bathrooms. “Apparently consumers do not consider that good value,” he said.

The emerging vacation trends are being watched closely in California and other states that rely heavily on tourism. Tourism officials in New York and Florida said they expected a decline in foreign visitors and expected to draw more heavily from nearby states.

Barry Pitegoff, director of research for Florida’s Department of Tourism, said officials were concerned about a growing tendency among vacationers to visit just one location, such as Disneyworld. Such vacationers often spend less money.

Though the number of out-of-state visitors is slightly ahead of projections, Pitegoff said, “we are more concerned about the type of person than the number of people.”

Numbers remain important, of course, especially to California firms that cater to foreigners or vacationers from the East. Bipin Ramaiya, president of California Parlor Car Tours, which offers bus tours to a mostly foreign clientele, anticipates a 10% to 15% decline in business this year.

The 67-year-old firm provides bus tours along the California coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco, mostly to visitors from outside the state. “If someone from Los Angeles wants to go to San Francisco, they don’t need us. They can just drive,” Ramaiya said.

Southern California’s well-known theme parks could also suffer because they also depend on out-of-towners. But spokesmen for Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland both said they expected Southern Californians to make up the slack.

“It’s the old double-edged sword,” said Bob Deuel, spokesman for Knott’s. “If people are reluctant to travel, they will stay home. We have millions of people in Southern California who are going to stay home and will want to be entertained.”

That theory is echoed by Snyder, who said she expects Californians to travel more within the state this summer.

Investment analysts who follow Walt Disney Co. doubted that Southern Californians would completely make up for lost revenue from out-of-towners. “There is a trade-off. If you don’t take long trips, maybe you’ll do something locally,” said Paul Wayne of the brokerage of Crowell, Weedon & Co. in Los Angeles. “But (locals) don’t make up for it.”

“A lot of locals go to the parks because they have friends in from out of town,” said Paul Marsh, an analyst for the brokerage of Bateman Eichler Hill Richards in Los Angeles.

However, some in the travel industry think fears about a decline in foreign travel are exaggerated.

For example, United Airlines, which does a big business between the United States and Japan, said last week that it was encouraged by a rebound in transpacific travel. United said it expected travel in June to show an increase over last June. “We see no reason why that trend should not continue into July and August,” United spokeswoman Sara Dornacker said.

Assistant Commerce Department Secretary Linda Mysliwy met with Japanese tourism officials in Tokyo earlier this month to drum up interest in U.S. vacations. She said the meetings left her encouraged. “The Japanese were more severely affected by the Gulf crisis than other places, but my sense is that things are getting back to normal,” she said.

ANNUAL TOURISM REVENUES

Tourism has been a growing industry in the United States, especially in four states, including California which actively compete for bulk of tourist dollars.

Sources: California State Department of Commerce, State Tourism Offices