Convention center hotel to break ground in December | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

That hotel is going to be 400 rooms, in addition to other hotels going up in West Palm Beach. Click title for link to the Palm Beach Post article. Here are some tourism statistics that appear at the end of the article:

Tourism stats up for 2012-13
$30.5 million — Tourism tax collections*
Up 11% over prior year
73.8% — Hotel occupancy rate**
Up 5.9% over prior year
$152.92 — Average daily rate** of a hotel room
Up 3.2% over prior year
* County’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Collections are for prior month hotel stays.
** Calendar year to date.
Source: Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council

Just to keep you up-to-date on the Lake Worth side of the ledger, the HRPB approved a Certificate of Appropriateness request for new doors and railings for the 30 room Holiday House motel at the southeast corner of Federal and 4th Avenue North. The long closed and derelict property is being rehabilitated so that it can be used as a motel again. Everyone is hoping for the best - fingers crossed.