Bonnie and Charley might visit Myrtle Beach this weekend, but hoteliers don't want forecasters placing the reservations.

Trying for a respectable finish to an anecdotally strong summer season, tourism officials don't want to see forecast tracks and national TV shows announcing two storms could bring rain to the Grand Strand this weekend.

Projected tracks for Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley show both touching South Carolina.

But they're hundreds of miles away - and anything can happen between now and this weekend.

"What you're seeing and hearing now is exactly our worse fear with an advancing storm," said Brad Dean of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dean and area hoteliers have not heard about cancellations, though people with reservations have been calling for information.

For now, The Yachtsman Resort Hotel is expected to fill up this weekend, general manager Tom Gardiner said. His reservations desk had fielded only one call about the storms Wednesday.

The same was true at Days Inn On The Ocean, which is 95 percent booked this weekend, owner Jay Smith said.

"We're watching the storm, but we haven't had any calls of cancellation," Smith said.

Gary Loftus, director of the Coastal Federal Center for Economic Development, said the storms aren't having an effect, at least not yet.

Occupancy at area hotels is at 90-plus percent for this weekend and next week, he said, citing data from Coastal Carolina University's Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism.

Loftus wasn't sure what the effect of the storm forecasts would be on those rates.

Local tourism officials have pleaded with meteorologists to shorten those outlooks.

Dean and other local officials met with national meteorological groups about a year ago to tell forecasters that the advanced forecasts aren't accurate and threaten the tourism industry.

Dean and the others got a cold shoulder, but hoteliers don't like the advanced forecasts, either.

"They always do the five-day track, and that tends to hurt us more than help us," said Sabena Robinson, director of sales and marketing at Kingston Plantation's Embassy Suites. "It starts the call volume."

Fortunately, the handful of calls received have been from folks seeking information about cancellation policies, not canceling.

Loftus said, "Here it is Wednesday, and I just looked at the Hurricane Charley storm track. That cone is awfully wide up around us."

Labor Day arrives in 26 days, marking the end of the summer season. The home stretch is tricky, with walk-ins becoming a larger variable in sales.

Labor Day weekend already has about two-thirds occupancy, Loftus said. Upcoming weekends are showing 10 percentage points to 20 percentage points ahead of last year.

Loftus' center began tracking occupancy in late July 2003, so he doesn't have comparable data for most of the summer.

Dean and economist Al Parish of Charleston Southern University said they've heard good things from all tourism sectors but don't have specific data yet. At least anecdotally, the area had a good June and July. "It's been a good summer," Gardiner said. "June and July were very good; they were up from last year."

Robinson senses a renewed confidence in the overall travel business, which is still rising after Sept. 11, 2001. Leisure travel has made a comeback, she said, and groups have started booking reservations further ahead.

Smith is optimistic about the season's wrap-up.

"All indications are we will finish strong," he said.