LAYTON — Hotel occupancy seems to be down everywhere in the state.

But in June, Davis County had a higher percentage of hotel rooms occupied than anywhere else in the state.

That’s according to Davis Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Barbara Riddle. She noted that the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report shows growth, albeit slight, to 75.8 percent occupancy this past June. But that’s still up from the 75 percent figure for June 2008.

“It’s the highest occupancy of anywhere in the state, with 71 percent for ‘other Utah’ the next highest,” Riddle said.

Average daily room rate, or what consumers are paying for hotels, stood at $82.86 this June, the highest of the year, compared to $86.02 a year ago.

Salt Lake City Metro, for example, saw a dive of 8.9 percent, year-over-year, while the state as a whole fell 8 percent.

That ranged from 66.8 percent occupancy in Ogden this year, a 2.1 percent hike from last year, to 63.6 percent in Salt Lake, a 10.6 percent drop, and in Utah County, nearly a 7 percent decline.

However, putting that all into perspective, she said Utah is still doing relatively well in terms of drawing tourists.

“Of the Western states, Utah seemed to be in a pocket that was not being hit so hard,” the travel CEO said.

She cited examples from a recent Western States conference, including Alaska, that painted a dire picture for same areas.

For example, cruises to Alaska are down substantially. The summer tourist trade is a lifeblood for many of the coastal, smaller communities.

And June, the latest month for which figures are available, proved a boon to Davis County – in spite of the large number of rainy days that seemed to postpone the arrival of Summer.

“There are still more destination vacations” that include Davis County. “Summer is a peak time,” Riddle said.

Many vacationers book their time off far in advance, and can’t change it on a moment’s notice, even if the weather isn’t ideal, she said.

For example, a lot of people, particularly from neighboring Idaho and Wyoming and elsewhere in Utah, plan their visits to Lagoon.

And Antelope Island continues to see an increasing number of visitors, Riddle said. Its numbers rose by 3.1 percent for the year through June.

The numbers this July vs. 2008 are even more dramatic. “They’re really smoking,” Riddle said. Last July, there were 33,056 visitors compared to 37,187 this year, for an 11 percent increase.

“The revenue through July for hotels was down by 10 percent,” she said. “But coming into the third quarter (August-September), the hotels are doing well.”

She noted a number of big conventions are scheduled that will help buoy that.

Saying bookings of new hotel rooms is “doing real well” through June, the number is off only 109 from last year, at 8,927. Two years ago was the biggest ever, in terms of bookings, when 24,000 were made for the year.

“We have been working really hard. While the number of actual groups who have booked is down, we typically are booking bigger groups, who also book more room nights,” Riddle said. “Having double the space in the Conference Center also helps.”

tbusselberg@davisclipper.com