TAMPA - Demand for Hillsborough County hotel rooms rose for the second consecutive month, with a 6.3 percent gain in September, compared with a year ago, to 298,436 rooms rented, says Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn.

Hillsborough room demand increased 5.5 percent in August compared with a year ago, breaking a consecutive string of declines of more than a year, Smith Travel reported.

The county's occupancy rate improved slightly from 45.4 percent in September 2008 to 45.7 percent in September.

However, revenue declined 10.4 percent in September to $23.7 million because of a decline in room rates.