Sonoma County hotel rates still rising but at slower pace

Sonoma County hotels raised their average daily room rate nearly 3 percent in July from a year earlier, as prices climbed at a slower pace and occupancy rates declined.

The average room rate last month reached $190.74, travel research company STR reported Monday. The July average occupancy rate declined to 83.7 percent from 86.4 percent a year earlier.

To date this year, hotel room revenues have increased 6.5 percent to $165.6 million. While that pace of growth remains far greater than inflation, the increase is the slowest for the same period since 2010.

STR last month gathered data from over 6,500 county hotel rooms.

County tourism was among the first business sectors to show strong growth after the recession and has enjoyed robust gains for the past seven years. In 2016, hotel revenues totaled $285 million, an increase of 9.5 percent from a year earlier.