Dec. 31--A soft economy and high gasoline prices are bad for most sectors of the economy, but those factors could help Inland tourism during 2008, according to a regional economist.

"Locally, I think the prospects for tourism next year are pretty decent," said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit whose duties include attracting tourists to greater Los Angeles.

"A lot of people won't be able to afford to go to Europe, so they're going to stay in the area," Kyser said. "They'll spend a lot of their travel dollars in the Coachella Valley and San Diego."

The international tourist trade also should perform well during 2008, and that could help the Inland region, Kyser said.

A weak U.S. dollar makes visiting here from outside the country a bargain, and a memorandum of understanding signed Dec. 11 by the U.S./China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade will bring more tourists from that country beginning in spring, Kyser said.

"Before, if you visited from China you had to be part of a study group," he said.

"Now regular tourists will be able to come here. One-third of the people who come to the United States from China visit Los Angeles, and we expect that number to go up once the new agreement is in place.

"The trick for the outlying areas, like the Inland Empire, will be to market themselves and let people know what they have," Kyser said. "But overall we're bullish on tourism in 2008. We think it's going to be one of our strongest sectors."

The development corporation is projecting a 70.1% occupancy rate for hotel space in the greater Ontario/Riverside market during 2008.

"Anytime you get to 70% you're doing well," Kyser said.

But not everyone is so optimistic about the upcoming year.

Scott Larson, general manager of Scandia Theme Park in Ontario, said he's worried about his park performing well during the next 12 months.

Scandia usually draws about 500,000 people a year, and it was on pace this year to top that by about 6% until the fourth quarter arrived.

"During the last four months we've been flat," Larson said. "Some of that was because of the fires in October -- people stayed in to watch that on television -- but that doesn't explain all of it. I don't know what it is. It could be consumer confidence. But I am concerned."

The Coachella Valley's tourist industry was "flat" during 2007, and probably won't improve much during 2008, said Mark Graves, spokesman for the Palm Springs Communities Desert Resort Convention and Visitors Authority.

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