In search of “new blood” amid the slowdown of the hospitality industry this year, the Drawbridge Inn and Convention Center has changed general managers and laid off more than 100 workers.

        Jim Willman left the Fort Mitchell hotel in mid-October and has been replaced by Florida hotel veteran Arnie Creinin, owner Jerry Deters said.

        It's the most dramatic sign yet of the slump befalling the travel, tourism, hotel, restaurant and airline businesses in Greater Cincinnati.

        Nationally, those industries have laid off more than 100,000 workers. And with the recession predicted to last well into 2002, many are prepared for a long winter with few visitors and plunging profits.

        “I've been here 31 years, and I don't remember it being this bad,” said Mr. Deters, who opened the hotel along Interstate 75 in 1970.

        Chuck Curran, the Comair executive on loan as president of the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, said few hotels, restaurants or attractions were immune from the downturn, but that signs of a comeback were showing.

        For example, Comair and some hotels are starting to hire again, he said.

        “I think we've been to the bottom of the well,” Mr. Curran said. “I think people are starting to say, "Let's get on with our lives.”'

        Mr. Deters said the Drawbridge would try to stimulate growth with packages aimed at business and leisure travelers. Hotels throughout the region are offering special deals to try to attract visitors.

        Cutbacks in hotels and restaurants here have come in dribs and drabs, but the turnover at the Drawbridge was especially dramatic.

        Mr. Willman, chairman of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau, still is looking for other work. He is Mr. Deters' son-in-law.

        The Drawbridge is Northern Kentucky's oldest and biggest convention hotel with 500 rooms.

        “I respect the fact that Jerry wanted to make a change,” Mr. Willman said. “We made a lot of those changes before I left.”

        Mr. Deters and Mr. Willman had poured $3 million into renovations during the last two years. But the Comair strike last spring, the soft economy and then the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks combined to throw the hotel industry into a tailspin this year.

        “Not that Jim did anything wrong, but we just needed new blood,” Mr. Deters said. “The travelers aren't there, and the airlines aren't carrying a lot of people. So you have to make cutbacks.”

        The Drawbridge still employs about 300 full-time and part-time workers.

        Mr. Deters said he would not shut down any part of the sprawling complex. He said that even before this year, new competition on the Covington riverfront and near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport had made it tough on the Drawbridge.

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