St. Tammany hotel and motel rooms cost on average 40 percent more than they did pre-Katrina as inflation and a post storm marketplace enables higher fees throughout the region, Tourism Commission Executive Director Donna O’Daniels said this week.

Meanwhile, local bookings have “essentially now normalized,” with 65 percent of area rooms booked daily compared to 90 percent after the 2005 storm that sent droves of hurricane relief and construction workers to the area.

“We’re still making more money, because the rates are higher,” O’Daniels said. “And I feel it’s going to stay that way for a while.” The news reveals a shift in tax dollars collected by the St. Tammany Tourism Commission that is aggressively promoting the Northshore as an alternative destination for travelers coming to Louisiana. The commission is 100 percent visitor funded through motel occupancy taxes and considered a financial player in promoting tourists who pump sales tax dollars in St. Tammany’s economy.

The commission’s coffers rely on collection of a 3 percent local hotel occupancy tax and 4 percent tax from state sales collected at local hotels, a fee that amounts to a $2.3 million projected for fiscal year ending May 31, 2009. That proposed budget was reviewed Tuesday at the commission’s monthly meeting.

Among the major budget items, a $100,000 improvement to the commission’s Web site, www.louisiananorthshore.com, is scheduled for launch May 31. The Web site, complete with blogs, flash imagery and a calendar of events, will likely rank among the best visitor friendly sites in the nation.

“It’s incredibly dynamic and has so much energy. I expect our Web site trends to go through the roof,” O’Daniels said, adding Web site hits to its current site are down 2,500 from a year ago but still higher than years prior.

While a Web site may influence vacationers to visit St. Tammany, it’s only a part of the battle. Traveling habits of all visitors must be truly studied and assessed, she said.

Following that lead, the commission budgeted for a $75,000 marketing study to reveal why and when people travel to St. Tammany, a key component in regionwide marketing from Texas to Florida, O’Daniels said.

The study was postponed for nearly two years after Katrina when traveling habits were anything but normal, she said.

“After Katrina, the study wouldn’t have much longevity,” O’Daniels said.

Prior to the storm, the commission relied on a lot of “gut marketing, anecdotal type thing,” she said. Now it feels one major marketing component lies on the dining tables of St. Tammany restaurants.

“It’s hard to pick out one type of message,” she said. But “our restaurants and dining could compete anywhere in Louisiana and the rest of the state.”

That focus will likely be explored in a revamped 24-page travel magazine touting St. Tammany as a destination vacation in the near future.

In other Tourism Commission news:

• Lisa Blossman was sworn in as a new commissioner to replace Evans Spiceland, who resigned to become president of his Rotary Club. Spiceland, a longtime commissioner, said after 10 years of service, the Tourism Commission is in the best shape “I’ve ever seen it … It’s been a privilege to serve.”

• Word surfaced that “Travel Report,” hosted by “20/20” co-anchor Hugh Downs, may shoot an upcoming episode in St. Tammany. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but we’re being considered for it,” O’Daniels said.

• Fraternity and sorority members nationwide are increasingly choosing St. Tammany as the destination area to host retreats, said Todd Whalley, sales director for the commission, who books events in St. Tammany.

• The multi-use Castine Center in Mandeville is booked full for the year, with only Easter and July 4th weekends available, General Manager Kathy Foley said. The events include a children’s world baseball series that lasts one week and should pump millions into the local economy by visiting players and family members.

The recently opened skate park at the Castine Center is also drawing hundreds of visitors monthly with over half traveling from outside the parish to skateboard, another economic boom to the area, Foley said.