Hotel revenues are up for the year in San Diego, although competing cities
are seeing higher growth. — Eduardo Contreras

After suffering through several years of languishing performance, San Diego's hotels are finally rebounding, although not as well as their rivals in other California markets.

The latest stats released by Smith Travel Research show that countywide, hotel revenues grew by more than 6 percent through November of this year, the largest increase since 2007, a peak year for the San Diego region before the recession hit.

Considering the industry's anemic growth in 2010 and plunging revenues in 2008 and 2009, local hoteliers are pleased with the long-awaited rebound. The gradual return to prosperity, though, is lagging behind such areas as Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco, which is reporting stellar growth in its room rates and revenues.

In Los Angeles, for example, revenues per available room -- the standard industry measure of hotels' financial health -- were up 12 percent, while in San Francisco they rose by more than 20 percent. In the Anaheim metro area, the increase was nearly 10 percent.

"San Francisco and Los Angeles have large international airports, and they get a tremendous number of international travelers coming to both, so that makes a huge difference in occupancy levels and rates," said hotel consultant Jerry Morrison. "We just don’t get all those people coming in from other countries.