The implosion of the Pac-12 will likely affect tourism in Corvallis

In two reports showing travel and tourism trends in Corvallis for the first two quarters of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Recklau said that was the period when community members felt safer coming together after months of social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

But with so much of local tourism tied to Oregon Statue University, the jury is still out on how the conference changes will affect visitor numbers.

For Memorial Day 2021, despite soaring airfares and hotel or rental car availability, Americans traveled in record numbers, eager to leave behind the restrictions of COVID-19, the Associated Press reported.

Rehklau said in the second-quarter report that those accumulated travel requests are now being learned.

This is reflected in the two-quarter lodging income report transition maps, which show a steady decline in occupancy levels between July and December with a significant uptick in September.

Recklau said by phone that the occupancy rates were derived by Visit Corvallis from the so-called STR report, which provides industry benchmarks and captures data from hotels and motels in Corvallis, which represents nearly all of the city’s visitor accommodations, but not and Airbnb accommodations or true bed and breakfasts.

The September surge, according to Reklau, reflects a long-standing record for the month as the strongest or second strongest for Corvallis in terms of people coming to the city.

“Students come back in September, and then you have football in September,” Recklau said.

This differs from many other communities where July is typically the strongest month due to vacations – in Corvallis, July is typically the second strongest month of the calendar year in terms of visitor numbers.

The average daily lodging rate, $191.93, hotel revenue earned ($3.5 million) and expected city tax generated ($317,022) were all significantly higher in September compared to other months in both quarters.

One of the reasons for the decrease in employment, according to the report, is the increase in hotel prices.

“You have accommodations that are feeling the impact of inflation. Employment is going down, but you’re also going to see prices go up at the same rate that employment is going down,” Recklau said.

According to Rehklau, the trend is one that has been seen across the country and has been going on for about 1½ years.

Not many, however, consider Corvallis a popular tourist landing spot; its location off Interstate 5 means it benefits from transient visitors stopping on their way to other destinations.

His appeal is more to OSU.

“I would say Corvallis benefits from a lot of people coming to OSU (who) are from outside a 50-mile radius,” Recklau said.

“One of the things we have to work on here at Visit Corvallis is the diversification of tourism attractions, as I like to call them,” Recklau said.

College sports activities continue to be one of those draws, but with the disbanding and realignment of the Pac-12 conference, it’s unclear what the broader impact could be on the larger travel and tourism sector in Corvallis, such as Oregon State and U.S. Washington is the only one left in the conference.

“We won’t start seeing those impacts until after this summer,” Recklau said.

“Come fall, I expect hotel revenue will probably be down from that perspective,” she said.

There may be a sliver of good news amid the uncertainty.

According to Rehklau, Eugene’s bookings are higher than normal for the upcoming football season, which begins in the fall, possibly a reflection of the University of Oregon’s decision to leave the Pac-12 Conference late last year.

There will be benefits for Corvallis in that when Eugene fills up, the city gets what she calls a “compression effect” as visitors move north for reservations.

However, it is unclear whether this will become a continuing trend.

“We will see the changes in the data in the second quarter of the next fiscal year,” Recklau said.