A valet from the Providence Biltmore hotel puts a bag in the trunk of a car for a guest. Hotel executives in Providence are predicting this summer’s occupancy rates will be roughly equal to the summer of 2008.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

“Flat is not a four-letter word anymore,” said Angelo DePeri, general manager of the Renaissance Providence Hotel. Tourism and hotel executives in Providence are predicting this summer’s hotel occupancy rates will be roughly equal to the summer of 2008 — flat, in other words. Considering what’s happened to the economy in the past year, DePeri said, that’s not bad news.

Bob Shelley, general manager of the Providence Biltmore hotel, said the Biltmore’s business is about even with last year’s, buoyed by a strong spring wedding season.

Meanwhile, the tourism industry in Newport is trying to shake off the effects of the dismal weather that has dominated June. “It’s been a painful month,” said Evan Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Smith estimated that hotel business in Newport fell between 10 percent and 15 percent for the month of June compared with the same month in 2008.The first four months of this year were tough for the lodging business throughout the state. Figures from Smith Travel Research, which tracks the hotel industry, show hotel occupancy in Rhode Island down 8.6 percent through the first four months of this year.

To attract guests this summer, Rhode Island hospitality officials said, hotels are having to work harder, adding amenities and sometimes lowering rates when business is slow. As a result, hotel revenue in the state is likely to be down in 2009. According to Smith Travel Research, the average daily rate per room in Rhode Island dropped by 8 percent from January through April 2009 compared with the comparable period in 2008, falling from $108.70 per day to $100.05.

Mark Gervais, general manager of the Hotel Viking in Newport, said occupancy during the key months of July and August will be close to where it was last summer. (Mike Botha, the hotel’s director of revenue, said the Viking experienced a slight dip in occupancy in June, probably due to poor weather.)

In August 2008, Gervais said, the room occupancy rate at the Viking was 92 percent. This year, Gervais said, he’s expecting a 90.5-percent occupancy rate. But room prices are down, Gervais said, and he is projecting a 10-percent to 12-percent decline in revenue this summer compared with last summer.

“Everybody is lowering rates,” said Steven Ricciardi, director of sales and marketing for the downtown Providence Courtyard by Marriott. “We prefer not to. But during down times, we will.”

Ralph V. Izzi Jr., communications director for the Procaccianti Group, owner of the state’s largest hotel, the Westin Providence with 564 rooms, said room rates, and revenue, are both down this year. “The consumer is being extremely frugal with travel spending and Internet pricing has become increasingly competitive ... the reality is today the buying decision is more a matter of price than in past years so we have to be very aggressive with our rate strategies,” he said in an e-mail.

In general, hotel executives said, people still want to take vacations — but they are traveling shorter distances, staying fewer days, booking at the last minute, and expecting more for their money. “People are looking for value,” DePeri said. He said most hotels would far prefer to add value for their guests, whether it’s a free breakfast, a $25 gas card, or a spa treatment, than cut their room rates. “Once you deflate the rates, it’s hard to get them back up,” he said.

John Karchner, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel & Spa, which recently completed a $34-million restoration, said the hotel is getting ready to introduce a summer sailing package. “If you come to Newport, you want to get on the water,” he said.

The Providence Courtyard by Marriott has partnered with Dave & Buster’s, the restaurant and game arcade, to offer a “Family Blast Package” that includes room, $40 power card to use at Dave & Busters, 30 percent off breakfast, and a goodie bag of snacks and drinks at check-in. The package goes for between $159 and $189.

At the Biltmore, Shelley said the hotel lets guests use the Internet to craft their own vacation packages, adding that customers are in a better position to get bargains than they were a year or two ago.

According to Smith Travel Research, there are 10,300 hotel rooms in the state. Smith, of the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said there are about 4,000 rooms in Newport County, which includes Middletown. Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, said her area has about 4,450 rooms. Sheridan said two new hotels have recently opened, the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Providence with 110 rooms and the NYLO hotel in Warwick with 167 rooms.

The Newport lodging market and its Providence counterpart display some distinct differences. Providence gets more business travel and conventions, while Newport is a tourist destination where business is heavily seasonal. Smith said 80 percent of Newport’s tourist income comes between May and October.

Both markets have been hurt by a sharp cutback in corporate travel, nicknamed “the AIG Effect.” (Insurance company AIG was sharply criticized when it spent $440,000 at a California resort to reward some of its agents just after the company received a massive government bailout.) Gervais, of the Hotel Viking in Newport, said one big insurance company, which he declined to name, pulled out of a planned corporate meeting in Newport this summer, saying it would be bad for its image.

With corporate travel down, hotels are going after what is known as the SMERF market, which been less impacted by the recession. (The acronym stands for social, military, educational, religious and fraternal organizations.) Sheridan said several major conventions are due in Providence this summer, the largest called GovEnergy, a training workshop and trade show for federal government agencies. GovEnergy, in Providence Aug. 9-12, is expected to require 7,500 room-nights from area hotels.

Also on tap this summer, Sheridan said, are meetings of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, the International Society of Arboriculture, and the Seventh-day Adventists.

WaterFire also provides a much-needed boost for downtown Providence hotels. “WaterFire almost guarantees a sellout weekend,” said Ricciardi of the Providence Courtyard by Marriott. This summer, a coalition of Providence hotels and restaurants will be sponsoring a WaterFire lighting, scheduled for July 4.

In Newport, it’s all about weekends and weather. “I wish I had more weekends,” Gervais said. “Our weekends are full.”

Smith said Newport has between 16 and 20 “big weekends” a year. The tourist industry needs the sun to shine for between 60 percent and 70 percent of them. “Weather is more important than any other variable here, including the recession,” he said. “We can lose up to 40 percent of our business if there’s a rainy forecast.”

Smith said he’s hoping people who may have canceled trips to Newport in June will reschedule for July or August — if the sun is shining. “I hope we have the worst of it behind us,” he said. Making the weather even more crucial in Newport, he said, is that many visitors wait until the last minute to make their plans. “That’s a scary thing for lodging establishments. We’re in a real-time booking environment now.”

Smith said Newport gets between 3.2 million and 3.3 million visitors a year. Roughly 60 percent of them come from Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. This summer, he said, he expects a minor decline in international visitors and an increase in people driving to Newport. He also expects to see more day visitors, and he’d like to persuade them to stay a little longer.

“A good traveler is someone who visits us for the day. A better traveler is one who will stay the night,” he said.

asmith@projo.com