Sun, savings and tourists sick of staying home are putting a winning spin on summer in eastern Connecticut.

After a rainy, economically repressed season last year, discounts for travelers, pent-up demand, stable gas prices and, most importantly, balmy temperatures are helping to lift business prospects for tourist attractions as the July Fourth weekend gets under way.

Nowhere is that more in evidence than at beaches stretching from Ocean Beach Park in New London to Misquamicut in Westerly.

Ocean Beach General Manager Dave Sugrue said he had to open the grassy overflow lot next to the beach's massive parking area three times already to accommodate crowds, a surefire indication of healthy receipts at the gate.

"Sales for June this year are double what they were last year, up 100 percent, and that's real," said the New London waterfront park manager. "We're pretty excited. Improvements to the park and marketing have really helped.

"But nothing works unless you have good weather. Our real inventory is sunshine, and we've had some inventory this year."

About 50 of the Misquamicut Business Association's business owners closest to the Westerly beach are finding "everything's up from last year," said Executive Director Caswell Cooke Jr.

While such dramatic success may prove the exception in a still-iffy economy, it helps set the pace for expectations in eastern Connecticut, said Ed Dombroskas, executive director of the Eastern Regional Tourism District.

Based on his own informal survey, Dombroskas said some attractions are up, some down and some steady in attendance and revenue compared with last year. But would-be travelers visiting the district's revamped website, www.mystic.org, are lingering twice as long as they did last year, he said - five minutes, on average, per visit.

In the absence of statewide marketing funds, the district has begun spending $275,000 raised in a public/private partnership to market the area, Dombroskas added. The investment from the district's Greater Mystic Visitors Bureau is expected to pay off as the season progresses, he said.

"We're the only ones out there in the state with any advertising," he said. "We're thinking that the overall trend at this point is very positive."

Lodging is another area with spotty but promising trends. Ginny Kozlowski, the executive director for the Connecticut Lodging Association, was quick to point out that for every single-digit increase in hotel and inn occupancy, room prices, known as average daily rates, are down by similar amounts.

Lodging in the Groton/Norwich area is barely above 50 percent occupancy for the first five months of this year, and needs to be at least at 60 percent to break even, added Kozlowski. While that's better than last year's 46 percent occupancy rate, it's below 2008's 57 percent rate, she said.

On the bright side, she said, hotels might be making less money, but consumers are paying less.

"We're seeing more people traveling, more meetings being booked, more group travel coming back online (compared with last year)," Kozlowski said. "It's just going to take time."

Rob Winchester, president of the Waterford Hotel Group, confirmed the pattern described by Koslowski, but noted that since the end of May occupancy at his company's seven outlets in this region is up 7.6 percent, while room prices are also up 9.2 percent.

"We all keep in mind that occupancy is up-tempo after having been in a very down period," Winchester said. "We look for any kind of light these days, any positive signs. The hotel business is slowly coming out of the trough that we were in."

Liking the Discounts

In Montville, the "Stegosaurus Special" coupons printed off the Dinosaur Place Web site offer a $99 family package that includes four passes to the attraction's outdoor adventures, lunch for four and two $5 gift cards. Deals like this one are part of the reason traffic is up 5.5 percent since Memorial Day, said Corrina Ferguson, co-owner and director of marketing.

"We've had guests request these" types of discounts, she said. "We're responding to their needs, and clearly they're liking it."

While news of the recession's amelioration may well be greatly exaggerated, Ferguson said, many people are buying into the sense that a gradual turnaround is in the offing.

"People sat around all last summer because of the economy," she said. "Now, they want to get out."

Optimism seems to prevail even when increases in attendance are small, like 4 percent, says Mystic Seaport spokesman Michael O'Farrell, or flat, adds Essex Steam Train and Riverboat President Bob Bell.

"The past couple of years, we've been slow out of the gate, and this year we're faster out of the gate than we've ever been," O'Farrell said. "If we continue on the path we are on now, that 4 percent number will grow."

Add to that the latest weather and travel forecasts, and summer's start looks pretty good.

In addition to the great deals, low gas prices and good weather, said Jacklyn Ghergurovich, AAA public affairs coordinator, children are out of school and families are ready to head to their favorite vacation spots.

"The economy's landscape was much different last year than it is now," she said. "People are definitely willing to take vacations because they may have had to forgo them last year."

Even the region's casinos, which continue to struggle with declining slot revenue, say traffic remains high, at 40,000 visitors a day, though revenue is off.

"The summer months are definitely a high business season for us, because the whole region is an attraction for people touring New England," said Lori Potter, a spokeswoman for Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods.

Abbott's Lobster in the Rough, a seaside restaurant in Noank, is reporting slight but tangible increases in revenue over last year, and owner Deidre Mears is eager to boost those figures.

"Humid and hot inland is wonderful for us on the shore," said. "Lobsters are plentiful, hot lobster rolls are ready and we're good to go."

p.daddona@theday.com

HOLIDAY FORECAST

It looks like another beautiful weekend, with lots of sun and no rain in the forecast. Temperatures are expected to be in the low to mid-80s along the shore and a few degrees warmer inland.

For travelers, AAA estimates 34.9 million Americans will be in transit over the holiday weekend, an increase of 17.1 percent from last year.