The Orlando hotel industry is slowly coming out of the comatose state it's been in for the past year or so, but there's a still a long way to go before it fully awakens in this economy.

Orlando area hotel occupancy showed its first increase this year in a six-month period since 2005 - even before the recession hit in full force in 2007.  Hotel occupancy reached 65.1 percent for the first half of 2010.  The same time last year the occupancy was at 63.2 percent.

Average local daily room rates for the first half of  2010 fell to $95.59, down nearly 6 percent from $101.62 for the same period last year.  Until full economic recovery occurs, local hotels are trying creative ways to attract guests.