People used to have the attitude they "had to go to Utah County," John Garfield, chairman of the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, told county commissioners Tuesday. "Now they are coming because they want to."

And the bureau, which was privatized in 2003 to boost tourism, has numbers to back the boast.

Hotel-room and restaurant taxes - two levies the county taps to fund most of the bureau's annual $1.1 million budget - are on the upswing.

From January through September this year, room-tax revenues in Utah County totaled $735,787, up 8.7 percent from the same period in 2004.

Restaurants forked over nearly $2.46 million in taxes, up 4.2 percent from last year, according to the bureau. The Utah Restaurant Association attributes 20 percent of total restaurant sales to tourists.

What's more, the occupancy rates at hotels through the first nine months of 2005 increased 6.7 percent - to 68.9 percent - over the same period in 2004, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report for Utah Valley. In August, hotels in Utah County were 85.5 percent full, topping the 84.4 percent logged in February 2002, during the Winter Olympics.

In addition, the bureau's small sales team sold 7,778 rooms through September, and the Web site the agency debuted in March - http://UtahValley.org - has become a major "on-line booking engine" for people seeking places to stay.

"Utah County is definitely doing well and doing better than the rest of the state," said Dennis Hall, vice chairman of the bureau's board.

All this comes as good news to bureau president and CEO Joel Racker, whom County Commissioner Jerry Grover publicly scolded in August 2004 for subpar performance amid warnings the county might not renew the bureau's contract.

As county officials look to approve the nonprofit bureau's business plan and renew its contract for the 2006 fiscal year, Racker is taking no chances.

At a Tuesday work session, he brought along a bevy of tour operators, hoteliers and other heavyweights to tout the bureau's achievements.

Lee von der Esch, Utah's new director of tourism, lauded Racker for helping to get moviemakers to film in the county.

Fred Parker, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Provo, said actor Daniel Baldwin became so enamored with Brigham Young University football during the filming of "Searching for Mickey Fish" that he wore Cougar paraphernalia during his stay in Utah County.

Top tourist draws in Utah County include BYU, Sundance, Thanksgiving Point and Cabela's, among others.

meddington@sltrib.com