Early tourism numbers in Central Oregon from the Christmas Holiday season are showing a big increase over the local trends from December 2011.
Alana Hughson with the Central Oregon Visitors Association says the numbers are up between 4 and 15 percent year over year.
She adds that good figures in December are important for the overall Winter season.
"it's a critical month- i believe most businesses will tell you that december will make or break their winter season. and if we lose a healthy holiday season they spend the rest of the season trying to make up for that...so the fact we had a good during the holiday period and we saw some recovery over the prior year, that's going to position the business better as well."
Hughson says Winter tourism business can also get some extra momentum from Christmas travelers because a good impression means that may return in the next few months and/or tell their friends about Bachelor.
"and also from a perception standpoint if travelers have a great holiday experience it tends to keep returning top of the mind for the rest of the season - so that means a better m-l-k weekend a better presidents day weekend, so it gives us optmism moving into the winter."
Hughson says their official numbers for the Holiday Season will come out in early February.
Last year's season was weak because of the lack of snow. Hughson this year was not only better weatherwise, but Christmas and New Years Holidays in the middle of the week also help visitor numbers because they lead to longer vacations in Central Oregon.
Most of the visitors continue to come from within Oregon, Northern California and the Seattle area.
