Greater Cincinnati tourism officials and hoteliers, skeptical of luring out-of-town conventions here post-Sept. 11, are turning to locals and regional tourists to fill empty rooms. And despite slashing rates, they have a lot of them - with an occupancy rate of 48.1 percent so far this year.

        Hotel managers say conventions trail last year's pace and are woefully short of the figures achieved in 2000 during the crest of the economic boom. The result: Area hotels are desperate to fill empty space.

        “It's not going really well,” said Frank Hardin, general manager of Radisson Hotel Cincinnati in Sharonville.

        Because convention and trade group dollars are dwindling, Mr. Hardin said, “You have to go get it from somebody else. We are trying to take a piece from the guy across the street.”

        The only bright spot has been travel close to home, and local tourism bureaus are encouraging weekend visits through discount packages to popular destinations such as Kings Island, Newport Aquarium and Reds games.

        So far, the $600,000 “Cincy Fun” regional marketing campaign launched this summer is responsible for the booking of 18,000 hotel room nights, according to the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau.

        “It is a very good start,” said Barbara Dozier, vice president of sales and marketing for the Northern Kentucky bureau.

        Indeed, area attractions such as Kings Island, Coney Island and The Beach in Mason are reporting banner years with attendance far ahead of last year's pace.

        Because the regional campaign is new, Ms. Dozier said she could not provide comparable figures for 2001.

        One year ago, Cincinnati's hospitality industry suffered one of its worst years ever because of a myriad of factors, including the Comair pilots' strike, April's riots and subsequent boycott, a poor Reds season, an economic recession and terrorist attacks. The region had the lowest average hotel occupancy rate among major U.S. cities, according to Smith Travel Research.

        The slump extended to both leisure travel and convention business. In all of 2001, leisure visitors booked a total of 172,756 room nights versus 250,515 room nights in 2000's summer months alone. (A room night is one room booked one night.)

        With Greater Cincinnati's summer 2002 convention schedule incredibly slim, hotel executives are hoping that extended weekend visits and brief family vacations can pad the slump.

        Julie Harrison-Calvert, spokeswoman for Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, said hotels shouldn't expect grand results from the new visitors' campaign because business travelers tend to spend more at shops and restaurants and stay longer than budget-conscious families. It was created in part to provide some financial relief.

        While corporate travel has slumped, Millennium Hotel general manager Rob Gauthier said leisure travel is ahead of last year's pace.

        “We had a very, very good month in June,” said Mr. Gauthier, who credits the upbeat results at his downtown hotel to a competitive Reds team and the Billy Graham mission that attracted about 200,000 visitors to Paul Brown Stadium.

        But when Mr. Gauthier reviews the corporate travel calendar for July and August, he shows his worry.

        “I think you will see occupancies slump through the summer,” he said.

        Michel Sheer, who runs the downtown Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza Hotel and Vernon Manor Hotel in Avondale, said 2002 is shaping up to be “a very good leisure summer so far.”

        “We are getting lots of day-tripping travelers who spend a night here. We have seen a big resurgence,” from 2001.

        Not all executives are happy with the summer's early results.

        “This should be the busiest time of year,” said Dan Fay, president of Covington-based Commonwealth Hotels. “It would appear that people are not coming out in traditional numbers.”

        Mr. Fay shared his concerns with the Northern Kentucky visitors' bureau on Friday.

        “It doesn't feel like what we wanted,” Mr. Fay said of the regional marketing campaign.

        All hotels say they have been forced to slash rates to attract visitors. The Millennium, for instance, offers a special rate of $99 one night and $25 for a second night in an effort to extend hotel stays. Free breakfast and parking are included.

        Smith Travel Research, a hotel research firm, reports that Greater Cincinnati's hotel occupancy improved slightly from January through May, up 3.9 percentage points to 48.1 percent. Average room rates, however, dropped 3.5 percent to $66.

        Hotel managers worry that things could grow worse in the months ahead because of the lack of convention bookings. A major blow came earlier this year with the cancellation of this summer's scheduled 8,000-delegate Progressive National Baptist Convention. It cited a boycott that some protesters have declared against downtown Cincinnati.

        Other African-American conventions have canceled because of the boycott, too, but the convention bureau chalked up a victory this week with the Urban League's announcement that it will keep its 2003 convention in Cincinnati.

        Ms. Dozier said travel woes aren't unique to Cincinnati. Many major markets have some variation of Cincinnati's local and “drive-in” tourism push.

        “I've worked in this industry for 30 years and have never seen two years like this,” she said.

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