Tourism Up In Tahoe Despite Drought

Hotel occupancy was up 8 percent last weekend over the same period last year according to the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

The Association’s Tourism Director JT Thompson credits a combination of factors including more international tourists and more events. He says one significant factor is many former winter tourists are coming to Tahoe in the summertime.

"The northern California push where people that weren’t coming up in the winter time for the snow vacation, they want to get up here so they are coming up which is a great thing," he says.

That trend is expected to continue through the fall. Three of seven public boat ramps on the lake are closed because of low water levels. However, Thompson says the area is expected to attract more people with small boats as they leave other lakes that have lost water in the drought.

“Lake levels are rising and boating is accessible up here," he says. "As opposed to some of the other reservoirs around the state it is a little more difficult and they are having a hard time.”