The city’s lodging and tourism industry hasn’t bounced back from the steep downturn it took after the terrorist attacks of 2001, according to a recently released report.

In 2002, Lawrence visitors added $35.4 million to the city’s economy, according to the annual report by the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau. That total was slightly up from $35.3 million in 2001, but still below the $36.9 million the industry generated in 2000.

More direct evidence of the slowdown comes from the city’s transient guest tax collection. The city’s 4 percent tax on hotel and motel room sales hit its lowest level since 1997, falling to $445,659 in 2002. That was down slightly from $446,841 in 2001.

“I think it is fair to say that is was a really tough year for our hotels,” Judy Billings, director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “They’ve really been tightening their belts. But I think they’ve started to see business loosen up a little bit this year.”

City numbers also indicated a turnaround may be on the horizon. Guest tax collections for the first three months of 2003 are $11,000 ahead of where they were at this time last year.

Billings also believes several events scheduled during the second half of this year and 2004 will boost the tourism industry. In particular, her department is looking toward the grand opening celebration of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics on July 20-22 and the city’s yearlong sesquicentennial celebration in 2004.

Billings said she expects the Dole Institute to provide new visitors to Lawrence on an annual basis, in large part because it will bring several high-profile speakers to Lawrence. This year Jimmy Carter, Rudolph Giuliani and Gerald Ford are scheduled to speak.

“It will be unique,” Billings said. “It should be a very family-oriented attraction. A very patriotic type of attraction. We think it has the potential to draw tourists off of (Interstate 70).”

The official dedication of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics will take place in July. Earlier this month, director Richard Norton Smith toured the facility, which is under construction on Kansas University's West Campus. The Dole Institute is expected to be a tourist draw for Lawrence.

Area hotel operators said they’d appreciate any help they can get. Megan Thomas, a sales representative with Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, said last year’s business was better than 2001 but fell short of expectations.

“At the beginning of the year, I think travelers still had some fear issues left over from 9-11, but toward the end of the year it was more about the financial situation everyone was in,” Thomas said.

Jennifer Larsen, general manager with Lawrence’s Super 8 Motel, said she has noticed fewer leisure travelers in Lawrence the past couple years. She said she thinks some may be opting for less expensive vacation options.

“When we were in that great boom a couple of years ago, you could count on every Friday and Saturday night being booked,” Larsen said. “That’s not the case now.”

Larsen said Lawrence hotels have offered reduced rates to fill rooms during slow times. She said hotels now may be forced to drop their rates by 10 percent to 15 percent to fill vacancies.

Kate Kelly, general manager of Lawrence’s Days Inn, said the economy particularly hurt the travel activities of retirees, who often rely on the stock market to fund their vacations. But she said Lawrence’s downturn is about more than a slow economy.

She said the market hasn’t yet recovered from two new hotels opening in 2001. The SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Holiday Inn Express both opened that year, bringing the number of hotel rooms in Lawrence to about 1,200.

“I think we’re a little over-saturated,” Kelly said. “I’m pretty sure the market wouldn’t be able to take another hotel right now.”