By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – The head of an association representing local hotels is providing what a Normal Town Council member described as “scary” data about the status of the lodging industry in town.

Ray Ceresa is president of the Bloomington-Normal Hotel and Lodging Association. He presented data to the town council last week showing Bloomington-Normal has the lowest hotel occupancy rate in Illinois at 52.3 percent through the end of October, which Ceresa said is a “dismal” number.

By comparison, he said Champaign-Urbana’s occupancy rate was at 57 percent, Peoria at 57.5 percent, and the Peru-Princeton area is at 60 percent.

“Doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s thousands and thousands of room nights.”

Ceresa said there are fewer corporate travelers in town.

“The independent business traveler isn’t coming to town like they used to,” Ceresa said.

“I’m hoping we’re going to come out of it. We’re all hoping that we will,” he added.

Normal Town Council member Kathleen Lorenz said the figures are “scary” because they speak to the community’s business climate.

Ceresa presented the data as he lobbied for passage of a six percent tax on short-term rentals of residential properties reserved on websites like Airbnb, which compete with local hotels.

The Normal Town Council unanimously approved the tax last week, and Bloomington aldermen will consider adopting the same proposal Monday night.

The six percent tax is imposed on hotel patrons, and Ceresa said requiring short-term rental customers to pay the same tax helps level the playing field.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]