May 01--DUNCAN -- With all of the activity in Duncan the last few months between big events and business traffic, hotels in Duncan have stayed packed.

Several large crowd events have taken place at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center and, of course, the Main Street Cruisin' the Chisholm Trail Car Show was larger than ever this April. With all of the local energy companies, the business end of Duncan has also been moving.

"Last month, several of the hotels were in the 90th percentile for occupancy, which is really good," said Loisdawn Jones, Duncan Convention and Visitors Bureau director. "We hope the trend continues."

With several more large events coming into town during May, including this weekend, the 24th annual Chisholm Trail Stampede PRCA Rodeo, hoteliers may have a good reason to hope for that as well.

Jones uses a formula that is recommended by the State Tourism Department to figure estimated economic impact. In 2012, that estimation for the first quarter of the year (January through April) was an impact of $276,622 and 2013's estimated impact for its first quarter is $312,442.

"We've seen a growth in those events (that occur during these months) and it is primarily from occupancy rates," said Jones.

Hotel tax this year compared to 2012 by month shows that January and February were on an even keel, while March saw a slight increase and April saw a significant increase.

From the Duncan Chamber of Commerce point of view, President Chris Deal agreed with Jones' assessment that a busy community schedule contributed to hotels' being almost completely full.

"You can just look at the calendar and see all of the events that have happened every weekend," said Deal. "Around the holidays it gets slow, but it's always a good sign in March when you see hotels hopping."

Additionally, the way Duncan presents itself to visitors plays a big part as well, he said. Overall, Deal feels that the confidence of Duncan is really good.

"It's a giving community and a lot of money is brought into Duncan from outside," he said. "That's a testament that Duncan tries to present the best image it can and treat our guests as best as we can."

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