LTCC’s Spanish Institute dominated by out-of-towners

Everything Spanish was the rule of the day this month at Lake Tahoe Community College with 527 students attending the college’s 18th Intensive Spanish Summer Institute.

Approximately 470 of those students came from outside the Lake Tahoe Basin. With them came an influx of more than $60,000 for local merchants, hotel owners, restaurants and more, according to college officials.

According to a survey commissioned by Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and conducted by Strategic Marketing Group, the average tourist party spends more than $500 a day on food, lodging, transportation, recreation, gaming, entertainment, and retail shopping.

ISSI Director Sue O’Connor said last year more than 40 percent of ISSI students were returning ones.