Foreigners got a little more bang for their Euro this summer.

Gas prices were high, but that didn’t stop visitors from far, far away from showing up on the South Coast this summer.

Spinreel Dune Buggy and ATV Rental owner Rich Burkholder said the New Carissa removal project was expected to be the big part of his business, but old world customers ended up being the more notable. Burkholder said the weak dollar helped bring in people from all over the world, especially Europe.

“Being in Oregon, on the Pacific rim, we usually see more people from Asia,” Burkholder said. “It’s amazing how much that changed this year.”

Coos Bay Visitor Center coordinator Cheryl Crockett noticed the invasion of international travelers, too.

Crockett said people from Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Israel and Korea signed the guest book at the visitor center.

European and other international travelers took up as much as 25 percent of the rooms, at Best Western Holiday Motel manager said Nathan Mischel. Canadians made a good showing, too.

State-side, travel habits shifted, too. Oregonians headed to the Bay Area, but were careful with their pocketbooks once they got here.

“I think that travelers that have been coming in are spending less money,” said Mark Mattecheck, Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor and Convention Bureau board chairman. “I think they maybe tend to steer toward fast food instead of fine dining. They’re traveling. They’re here. ... but I think if you check with the restaurants, they haven’t had an overly robust summer.”

Joe Benetti, the co-owner of Benetti’s Italian Restaurant in downtown Coos Bay, said he noticed a difference in how people spent money at his eatery.

Benetti, who tracked his business in two ways — customer spending and number of patrons — found numbers fluctuated month to month. In June, the customer count grew 3 percent, compared to last year, but dollars spent went down 1 percent. In July, the customer count decreased by 1 percent but sales jumped 3 percent. August, he said, tied with last summer in customers but sales climbed 4 percent.

“The bottom line, I believe, is the gas and the economy are really critical this year,” Benetti said.

The Mill Casino-Hotel spokesman Ray Doering said people who used to visit The Mill several times a month or season, seem to be making fewer trips. That means less money going to gaming, food and beverages.

“Anything that requires discretionary spending is going to feel the pinch. We’re not an exception to that rule,” Doering said. “People still want their entertainment, they’re just doing it on tighter budgets.”

Despite the poor economy, less spending and some pesky road paving projects, people did show up, Mattecheck said, making it a winning tourist season, especially in terms of hotel stays.

He attributed this success to an added presence in the marketplace via Internet marketing, the combination of the New Carissa project and the discovery of the shipwrecked George L. Olson, the U.S. Olympic Team trials in Eugene and an Oregon tourism campaign overseas.

To promote the South Coast, The Mill and the bureau partnered in a promotional booth at the Eugene ’08 Festival, adjacent to the Olympic trials. While the initial hope for the booth was to draw tourists in the future, people began streaming down even while the trials rolled on. The booth touted the area’s connection to running phenom Steve “Pre” Prefontaine and the attributes of the South Coast.

“We brought people to the area immediately and that was a bonus,” Mattecheck said.

Doering said he saw the direct influence of the booth in the form of coupons. Handed out during the Olympic Trials and placed in newspapers in Eugene and Medford, the coupons guaranteed holders $89 room rates. He said tourists cashed in 80 coupons, which led to 138 room nights. And, he expects more to come.

“We obviously got people’s attention,” Doering said.

A National Geographic Adventure magazine article that showcased Coos Bay as an up-and-coming surfing destination created a buzz at the visitors center, too.

“People know where we are now when they might not have before,” Crockett said.

Filling rooms

Getting people into rooms was a challenge this summer, but most hotels and motels had high occupancy rates.

Mischel said the Best Western took longer to fill each day, but 99 percent of the time it was at capacity.

At The Mill, a new hotel tower that opened in June made an obvious difference in occupancy, Doering said. During the 62 nights of July and August, the hotel was sold out on about a third of the nights.

“That shows there’s a lot of interest in the hotel, and again, people want to get away,” Doering said.

Once here, people found plenty of inexpensive activities.

Kristi Snow, the director of sales and catering for the Red Lion Hotel in Coos Bay, said people come to sightsee and participate in free outdoors activities that don’t require a lot of driving.

“People would ask about the New Carissa and how would they get out there. We had people asking where Steve Prefontaine was buried,” she said. “We had people asking where Steve Prefontaine used to run. Basically anything about Steve Prefontaine they love. That was huge during the Olympic trials.”

Although she wouldn’t reveal how often the hotel sold out, it did occur several times. Even more often only two or three rooms remained vacant in the 145-room hotel.

Overall the summer, in spite high fuel prices and the sluggish economy, was a winner in many tourist trackers’ opinions.

“We’ve had an OK summer,” Crockett said. “In my world, it hasn’t slowed down. We’ve been busy.”