ZELIENOPLE — With the summer tourism season under way this past weekend, the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau is already ahead of its expected bed tax revenue.

Bureau director Jack Cohen said revenue from the tax is up 22 percent from this time last year.

Currently, the bureau has collected about $700,000. He expects the bureau to finish the fiscal year with about $800,000.

The income comes from the county's 3 percent bed tax, which is collected by hotels and funds the bureau and its marketing efforts.

The revenue does not include the start of the summer's travel season, which also includes the PGA Tour's U.S. Open to be played at Oakmont June 11 through 17.

Cohen said almost every hotel is booked for the event from Cranberry Township to Butler, and that campgrounds and bed and breakfasts have also seen an increase in interest.

Cohen said the increased revenues are a sign that the bureau's efforts to promote the county are paying off.

In 2004, the bureau introduced the Family Fun Card which, for $20, offered discounts to member businesses throughout the county.

The card, which was free to hotel guests, has been free each year since.

But Cohen said events such as the recent Pennsylvania Outdoors Writers Association bi-annual conference could also have a major payoff for the county starting this summer.

The event, which brought outdoor writers from newspapers, magazines, television, radio and Web sites across the state, will likely yield travel stories about the county, Cohen said.