Mariposa County December 2009 TOT (Bed Tax) came in at $575,837. That was a $100,000 more than December 2008 when $465,679 was collected. That is almost a 24% rise in TOT month to month.
The previous high for December was in 2004 when $487,246 came into the county coffers.
Yosemite visitation for December 2009 was up 12.8% over December 2008.
115,056 people visited Yosemite National Park in December 2009 and in December 2008 102,112 people visited the park.
Concession Lodging in Yosemite reported a 29.7% increase from December 2008 to December 2009 as there were 37, 841 stays in 2008 and in 2009 there were 49,086 stays.
The Local B&B’s TOT collection was slightly down from December 2008 when $11,116 was collected as in December 2009 $10,869 came into the county coffers.
With the combination of the low Euro along with California residents staying closer to home and the increase in Tourism advertising dollars thanks to the county and the 1% BID on the industry the December numbers were a great way to end the calendar year.
And thanks to the Ken Burns PBS production – America’s Best Idea. It has really made a difference in increasing tourism to Yosemite.