Despite great beach weather, city forecasting lower revenues.

Gauging by crowded beaches and freeways, San Diego is off to a typical summer, where a wave of visitors pour west from Arizona to escape the blistering desert heat or south from Los Angeles for a relaxing getaway.

But if you're a city number cruncher looking at such indices as sinking consumer confidence in what is now being called a recession you might want to make some adjustments to tax revenue expectations in tourist dependent San Diego.

Which is exactly what they did.

Earlier this month the city made a downward revision in the amount expected to come from its 10.5 percent hotel room tax and also the pot of money from an additional 2 percent fee local hotels charge guests to boost tourism marketing funds, said Lorin Stewart.

Stewart is the executive director of the newly formed San Diego Tourism Promotion Corp., the governing body for the Tourism Marketing District that took effect in January with the blessing of the San Diego City Council.

The room tax was first anticipated to bring in $173.6 million during the June 2008 to May 2009 time frame. But now the projection is that it will be $172 million. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007, the collection totaled $151 million.

The TMD collection, originally expected to total $30.9 million from June 2008 through the end of May 2009, is now projected to be $27.8 million, of which the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau will receive a minimum of 50 percent.

The San Diego North Convention & Visitors Bureau will receive a flat 10 percent of the TMD fund. The remainder will be split among certain groups and events that attract tourists.

According to the revised estimate, ConVis would receive $13.9 million, not the $15 million originally thought. But that's still substantially more than the $8.8 million ConVis was budgeted as a city supplement for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Actually the TMD began to pick up the city's tab in January, Stewart said. ConVis had a total operating budget of $14.6 million for the current fiscal year, the remainder of which came from private sources, primarily membership dues.

Additionally the bureau can apply for money over and above its base funding, as it did when it was allocated $500,000 for activities connected with the American Society of Association Executives & the Center for Association Leadership convention from Aug. 16-19 at the Convention Center.

"Attendees at this important event represent decision makers for the single largest customer group that brings meetings and conventions to San Diego," said Terry Brown, who heads Atlas Hotels Inc. and is chairman of the tourism promotion corporation.