Fruity drinks. Beach balls. Inflatable fish floaties.

Poolside, the crisis in corporate travel looks pretty fun.

Faced with a big decline in the business travelers who once filled its beds, the staid InterContinental Hotel West in Doral has been forced to pursue vacationers with new vigor. That has meant livening up a spacious pool that used to be empty except for the occasional executive swimming morning laps.

``You wouldn't have seen this a year and a half ago,'' marketing director Alex Garcia said as four children tossed a ball in the shallow end of the pool.

The trend isn't one to cheer about for the InterContinental West: Leisure travelers spend less on lodging than do executives traveling on expense accounts. And leisure travelers can't be counted on to fill up rooms during the week.

But the poolside clatter reflects a broader trend under way across the country in the hotel industry, with vacationers benefiting from corporate America's stinginess when it comes to travel in a rocky economy. With business hotels losing their white-collar customers, the flip-flop set is moving in.

``We're getting more first-time guests than ever,'' said Ricardo Acevedo, general manager of the Four Seasons Miami, 1435 Brickell Ave.

This summer, for the first time, the 221-room hotel rented rooms through online travel agencies Expedia, Orbitz and other sites popular with vacationers looking for bargains. The sites keep about 20 percent of the rent a traveler pays for a room, and the Four Seasons chain had discouraged its hotels from using the online agencies until this year, Acevedo said.

But the new strategy has transformed the mix inside the Four Seasons Miami. Leisure bookings now account for more than 30 percent of business at the hotel, up from about 20 percent two years ago.

Shrinking corporate travel budgets have contributed to a dire year for the lodging industry, with room rates down about 17 percent worldwide, according to a survey by hotels.com. An Oxford Economics USA study partially funded by the U.S. Travel Association found half of U.S. companies cut back on travel expenses this year.

The declines come as companies look for cost savings amid falling profits, and as businesses scratch conferences in resort areas for fear of looking too indulgent.

For sure, the overall economic decline has dealt the biggest blow to South Florida hotels, where business travelers make up about 15 percent of the tourism market. Per-room revenues, a measure of a hotel's occupancy and room rates, are down 18 to 22 percent compared with a year ago.

Meanwhile, a wave of hotel openings and reopenings -- including November 2008's return of the 1,504-room Fontainebleau Miami Beach -- has saddled South Florida with what data from Smith Travel Research show is the country's biggest increase in room inventory during a historic retreat in demand.

``Here, competition is tremendous,'' said Fred Euler, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center & Spa, 250 Racquet Club Rd., in Weston. ``Do you know how many properties have opened over the last several years, particularly in the Fort Lauderdale area? It's driving rates down.''

Rates are down 10 to 20 percent at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, 4400 N.W. 87th Ave., thanks largely to a decline on the conference side.

That has meant more rooms for vacationers, which the resort has targeted with a $200-a-night package that includes free breakfast and unlimited golf for two. It runs through Oct. 31.

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