Tourism remains steady

The number of holiday visitors trails off this time of year, but the tourism industry is still able to maintain a steady year-round flow of revenue with the arrival of the “snowbirds,” according to Jarrod Lyman, promotions manager for the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Lake Havasu is lucky in that we don't really have an off-season, like in Phoenix summertime is their off-season,” Lyman said. “We're such a unique destination with so many different attractions. In the summertime, we get a lot of people out on the lake. In the wintertime, we get a lot of snowbirds. It's a pretty good spread across the year.”

Down at the Hampton Inn, general manager Jim Compton said business boomed earlier this month, but rooms don't normally book up during Christmas weekend.

“It's pretty slow this weekend. Actually our first three weekends of the month were just fantastic. Busy, busy, busy,” Compton said. “With the holidays approaching, a lot of our corporate people aren't traveling so it's basically pretty slow.”

The people who do come for the weekend visit family or have scheduled a timeshare, Lyman said.

And these vacationers keep the people at the visitor's center at English Village “really busy this time of year,” he said. The visitor's center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, but will close Dec. 25.

Ann Quiggle, manager for Islander RV Resort on Beachcomber Boulevard, said the park's approximately 500 spots were full, but many snowbirds traveled elsewhere for the weekend.

“A lot of our guests stay for the entire winter, but many of them have gone home for the holidays for a short visit, so actually it's pretty quiet around here,” Quiggle said. “Others are here and will be having a big festive Christmas dinner in our rec hall.”

You can contact the reporter at coulter@havasunews.com