The Peninsula Daily News reports:
The allure of vampire dreams delivered a 48-percent increase in lodging tax revenue for Forks, while “close vacations” because of high gasoline prices fueled tourism elsewhere on the North Olympic Peninsula this summer.
Port Angeles made the most money from lodging tax revenues — $337,598, 2.7 percent over the $328,454 collected during the same period last year — while Port Townsend, afflicted with a cut in ferry runs, was pleased to see only a small drop in revenues — a 0.2 percent decrease to $229,258 from $229,655, said Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rod Davies.
At the same time, Sequim saw a percentage increase in lodging tax revenues second only to Forks, collecting $115,962, a 15.7 percent increase over last year’s figure of $100,163 during the same time period, an indication of interest in the town as a retirement community, said Vickie Maples, Sequim Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director.
