Every day of this past week, I received something from a tourism promotion entity. Granted, I’ve brought this on myself. Over the years, we’ve signed up for email newsletters so we can “borrow” ideas from other communities. All across the country, communities large and small are adopting strategies to take advantage of visitor spending.
In Lee County, our leadership has been discussing the formation of a Tourism Development Authority for some time. Although many ideas have surfaced, including public-private partnerships, any significant funding for promotional activities would eventually come from an increase in our room tax, which is now 3 percent.
Also called the occupancy tax, this fee is levied on hotel room bills, sent to the N.C. Department of Revenue, then passed back in full to the county or city where it was collected. Harnett County, for example, raises over $300,000 from their occupancy tax. The city of Kinston funds tourism efforts with $191,000 from their room tax. A night in a Charlotte hotel comes with an 8 percent room tax to help pay for that city’s sports complex and the new NASCAR museum.
Forty-five other jurisdictions, some cities and some counties, have a 6 percent hotel room fee. Over 160 jurisdictions across North Carolina have some form of occupancy tax to fund tourism and visitor promotion. The beach counties use the money to pump sand on the beaches. The mountain counties use it for snow removal so visitors can come ski in the winter.
Counties with an interstate highway (and thus more hotel rooms) generate lots more money. The coastal counties with rental houses also generate more money since the occupancy fee is paid on houses, as well as hotel rooms. We’re falling behind unless we can get this increase.
To attract more visitors here will take a significant effort. Our private sector — the lodging and restaurant businesses especially — are ready for action. Our elected leaders have made good progress. Acquiring the Depot building as a possible location for a visitor center is a gigantic first step. The Growth Alliance through the Chamber has made tourism development and community promotion a significant part of our program of Work for 2015.
The fees generated by this increase would be used for attracting visitors and increasing awareness of what we have to offer in Lee County. Our community, unlike many others, never has created a dedicated funding stream for this kind of marketing and promotions effort.
Instead, we’ve relied on our small businesses to carry the freight in marketing our community to outsiders; businesses like our automobile and boat dealers, real estate companies, golf courses and hotels, and of course, our local attractions like Temple Theatre, Gross Farms and Deep River Sporting Clays.
With funds from the occupancy tax, we can do much more to attract visitors, especially after we complete the renovations to our 25-year-old civic center. Coupled with downtown streetscape renovations, which will begin as soon as the weather breaks, we definitely will start to develop some “buzz” about our community.
Expect the naysayers to call this effort just another tax-and-spend idea. Our response is: “What is your idea?” How, as a community, will we compete with other cities and towns for new residents and visitors?
The business community has stepped up to provide over $1 million in pledges for the next five years to fund economic development. Local government has stepped up to provide strong support for the Growth Alliance, as well as creating the one-stop shop for business at the Buggy Factory building.
We’re asking our General Assembly to also step up and give us the tools so we can compete. Pass a local bill allowing Lee County or the city of Sanford to increase the local hotel room fee. The business community is fully behind this increase, which will be paid primarily by out-of-town visitors.
Of course, we can’t do everything at once. This is a longterm project. But we can start by assembling our current assets, building the infrastructure, including the human capital, to take advantage of what we have now. If we’re going to be an elite city in North Carolina, we’ve got to make investment in areas like this which provide a significant return in jobs and economic boost.
Bob Joyce is president of the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce.
Leave a Reply