Empty hotel rooms on the rise around John Wayne

Hotel room rates - and vacant rooms - are increasing in and around John Wayne Airport.

The lodging experts at PKF Colliers report that airport-area hotels in June were 80.4 percent full vs. occupancy rates of 80.5 percent countywide. A year ago, JWA area hotels were 82.2 percent full.

Average JWA area room rates were up 3.5 percent in a year. Room prices in the city are 31 percent - or $48.37 a night, on average - cheaper vs. countywide pricing.

One critical measure of hotel financial health - revenue per filled room (known in the trade as "RevPar") - ran up 1.2 percent at JWA hotels in the most recently tracked month vs. the previous year.

Note: Year to date, airport area hotels were 76 percent full with room rates up 5 percent vs. a year ago.

It certainly can't help hotel owners in this neighborhood that traffic has been sluggish at the airport. In the past year, John Wayne has handled 8,672,637 passengers. That pace is down 0.7 percent in three months and 1.3 percent over the previous 12 months.