Tourism numbers in Springfield are down this year compared to 2016, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad start.

February last year had 29 days, which means one less day this year to count the city’s hotel guests. Also, January and February 2016 were record-breaking months and this year would have to start off at a stellar pace to beat that.

Statistics for January through February show hotel occupancy down 0.4 percent, room revenue down 2.8 percent and rooms sold down 4.9 percent over the same period last year. Average daily rate, however, is up 2.2 percent over last year along with revenue per available room, which is up 1.8 percent.

March numbers are well ahead of last March. They should come close to erasing the January and February deficits and might catch us up year-to-date.

To see more statistics about the local, state and U.S. lodging industry, go to http://bit.ly/HotelStats. Statistics about CVB activities also are available at http://bit.ly/CVBStats.