Let’s talk about Tourism
By Martin Owen
Here on the Northern Gulf Coast tourism is usually run by county appointed Tourist Development Councils and their associated Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Their funding comes from a Tourist Development Tax, commonly known as Bed Tax, which is charged on short term visitors staying in hotels, vacation rentals and similar properties. The amount varies in different counties but is usually in the region of 5% or 6% of the amount the visitor is charged for the accommodations. The tax is collected by the lodging industry and passed back to the counties. State law has strict guidelines on how the tax can be spent. In simple terms the funds can only be used for items that promote or support tourism and they can only be spent in the areas of each county that actually collect the tax. As with all legislation it’s not quite as simple and clear cut as that, but you probably get the general idea.
It’s often assumed that the tax monies are spent on tourism promotion. In other words, simple advertising to encourage more tourists. Thankfully that’s not the case. Each county and its TDC/CVB has different policy detail but let me give you an example of how one county goes about the process. I’m not naming the county but all have similar policies.
A good deal of the tax goes to support existing tourism in the county. This covers beach cleaning, lifeguards, tourist area policing, safety and rescue services, beach access, car parks and things like beach area toilets. Obviously, this is not restricted to tourists. The local residents also use all these services so they benefit from having the taxed tourists pay for them.
Then there are improvements to the area to attract tourists. Some recent initiatives have included paying for bike lanes along roads to provide a safe cycling environment for tourists, but again local cyclists benefit hugely and don’t pay a penny in their own taxes. This particular county has also used bed tax to partially fund the purchase of beach side properties. These are then converted into access areas allowing beach visitors to have places to park their cars and actually enjoy the beach. As much of the beach side property is privately owned, this can be a challenge but once more, locals also benefit.
Bed tax money has also contributed to improving roads in tourist areas, reducing congestion and improving life for everyone.
The county has created off-shore reefs using sunken redundant boats and suitable waste concrete. These artificial reefs attract fish which in turn improves fishing for locals and visitors and brings in a whole new section of tourists – scuba divers – who often visit outside the busy tourists’ season and tend to spend more with dive shops, dive captains and the local restaurants and stores.
Talking of fishing, bed tax money has gone into trying to reduce the invasive Lion Fish population. This environmental effort also helps the local restaurants as Lion Fish are delicious and attract a whole new set of customers.
Bed tax money is used to support many local museums. This provides tourists with places to visit on days when they want a break from the beach. Local schools also benefit as they make use of the museums as well.
Inland, bed tax money goes to support hiking trails, sports complexes and other improvements that do attract tourists, but also improve amenities for those of us who live here.
Of course, the aim of the bed tax is to attract more tourists. However, the reality is not to encourage more visitation in the middle of summer but to spread the visitors more evenly across the year. The CVB has also carried out research into where the visitors come from and which ones spend more money. That has allowed them to target the tourists who are particularly valuable while moving the visitation periods to spread out the arrivals and improve the income. For the locals this encourages year-round jobs, as opposed to seasonal positions.
That’s only a small part of what Tourism Development is all about. There’s much more to it of course. The important thing is that the aim is to not only encourage tourism, but to improve life for us locals without our having to pay for it. Everybody benefits and smiles!