The Democratic National Convention hasn’t been a major boon for Boulder businesses, but it’s boosting some hotel occupancy rates.

“It’s a real mixed message,” said Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau.

She said the city expected some overflow from the convention, which attracted an estimated 50,000 people to Denver, but didn’t have money to market directly to delegates and other convention-goers.

Boulder-area hotels typically have few vacancies in August, particularly on weekends, because of the number of people in town for the University of Colorado’s new student orientations, student move-in and the general end-of-summer burst of tourism, Mahoney said.

She said some hotels are crediting the DNC for increased bookings.

At Boulder’s Millennium Harvest House, 1345 28th St., Joseph Martinez of reservations said the hotel is hosting a few DNC groups this week. The main one is about 300 high school and college students who are participating in the DNC as “junior delegates.”

Last week’s CU freshman move-in also kept the hotel jammed, he said, while the hotel expects to stay busy catering to those in town for CU football games.

A representative of the Boulder Outlook, 800 28th St., said the hotel also is experiencing some overflow from Denver. Denver hotels booked up early, with convention-goers staying as far away as Loveland.

Jane Jenkins, executive director of Downtown Boulder Inc., said it’s too early to tell if the DNC brought more people to shop and eat here.

“If you walk around downtown, I haven’t noticed people with convention-related T-shirts or placards,” she said. “It’s not real obvious, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been an impact.”