Bookings at Vicksburg’s 32 hotels and motels in May remained stronger than they did in the same month last year and, as in April, hoteliers are giving much of the credit to the outage at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson.

“Actually, more of the Grand Gulf shutdown business came in May than April,” said Lynn Foley, director of sales for Southern Hospitality Services, which owns four Vicksburg hotels. “Without a doubt, I would attribute the outage as the main reason for stronger May numbers.”

Occupancy rates during May were 67.4 percent, as reported by Smith Travel Research, significantly better than the 54.3 percent occupancy rate in May 2009. The average room rate was also higher this May, up to $70.68 from $68.87 a year ago.

Located about 25 miles south of Vicksburg, Grand Gulf annually halts production in the spring to refuel and perform regular maintenance that brings in about 1,000 temporary employees. This year, the plant also has been preparing for a 13 percent power upgrade that will soon make it the most powerful nuclear generating station in the country.

The outage is now complete, and Foley said the last temporary Grand Gulf employees began checking out of area hotels in the last week of May. Along with the outage, she credited better attendance at local attractions and increasing business travel for the uptick in occupancy last month.

“The tourists are coming back; corporate businesses are traveling more, and that’s a huge source of business in Vicksburg,” said Foley, who represents the Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Suites and Econo Lodge. “We’ve gotten quite a lot of group bookings back at the hotels. Everything is coming back slowly but surely.”

Attendance at the Vicksburg National Military Park — the city’s most popular attraction — was up by about 5,000 people in May, to 66,419 visitors. In April, the park recorded 12,000 more visitors than during the year previous, with about 62,600 total.

Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Bill Seratt said all attractions in the city are faring better than last year.

“We’re seeing increases across the board,” he said. “People are traveling more locally, and we’re seeing a good amount of traffic.”

The April occupancy rate was 69.1 percent — breaking a seven-month streak of average occupancy below 60 percent. Occupancy rates hit a three-year low over the winter months, with only about 40 percent of the city’s approximately 2,500 rooms full from November through January.

While the average daily rate has remained steady between $68 and $71 in Vicksburg, a number of motels have begun advertising room rates as low as $29 per night. Aside from January, occupancy rates have been better every month this year compared to 2009.

“Last year was so bad, I think we can only get better,” Foley said. “We’re doing much better than last year, and we hope that trend will continue through the summer.”

While hotel stays have increased over 2009, they are still significantly lower than in 2008. Much of the slowdown has been attributed to a 25 percent increase in room inventory between the summer of 2008 and 2009, when six new hotels were opened in the city. Vicksburg is also home to 14 bed and breakfast inns that have about 100 rooms collectively.