Tourist tax plan gives millions to woo visitors
A newly approved plan to spend tourist-tax money gives a bigger share of the lucrative pie to Visit Orlando, the tourism-marketing agency that got $54.4 million in the last fiscal year.
The old deal paid Visit Orlando 23% of tourist tax dollars to woo tourists. The new nineyear deal rises incrementally and tops out at 30% in the fourth year. Some estimates, which forecast more recordbreaking numbers of visitors, predict the plan will funnel a total of about $900 million to Visit Orlando over its life.
Orange County commissioners unanimously approved the spending blueprint this week and received rousing applause from a small crowd of spectators who work in the tourism industry.
“I suspect that every one of us would agree that Orlando is one of the world’s most recognizable brand names,” said Rich Maladecki, president and CEO of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, which lobbied for the updated spending agreement.
“This designation occurred not by accident but by strategy, by investments, by hard work, by re-investments … and proudly we do hospitality right.”
The plan governs how the county spends revenue generated by the tourist development tax, also known as a bed tax or hotel tax. The 6% levy is tacked onto the cost of short-term lodging at a hotel, resort or a home-sharing service like Airbnb.
Final collections for fiscal year 2018-19, which ended Sept. 30, haven’t yet been tallied, but the total is expected to exceed $276 million, the previous year’s haul.
Besides the generous funding bump for Visit Orlando, the new plan also sets aside smaller pots of money for a sports incentive committee and for local arts groups.
Sports incentive funding was increased from $2 million to $4 million a year to lure marquee sporting events like World Cup soccer, the NFL Pro Bowl and NCAA football games to Orlando.
Local arts groups will get an extra $2 million a year, some of which can be used to rent venues such as the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts for special performances.
Tourist-tax money for arts groups comes with spending restrictions, imposed by state law.
Visit Orlando, formerly known as the Convention and Visitors Bureau, is a nonprofit organization regarded as the official tourism association for Orlando.
It had operated since 2007 under a often amended funding agreement with the county that expired Sept. 30.
The new deal increases Visit Orlando’s share to 25% in the first year, 27% in the second year, 28.5% in the third year and 30% in 2022 and beyond.
Assuming tourist-tax revenue grows annually by 4% a year, county estimates show Visit Orlando will get $73.5 million to promote the region in fiscal year 2020-21.
The figure would grow to $98.9 million in 2023.
“If TDT [tourist development tax] goes down, the amount of funding Visit Orlando will receive will go down as well,” said Randy Singh, deputy county administrator for administrative and financial services.
Likewise, if tourist-tax revenues go up, so will Visit Orlando’s take.
Orlando welcomed a record 75 million people in 2018, making it the mostvisited destination in the U.S., Visit Orlando officials announced in May.
Singh said the new promotional plan will focus not only on theme parks and the convention center, but also lesser-known natural and cultural attractions.
He cited cultural festivals such as Eatonville’s annual “ZORA! Festival,” celebrating Zora Neale Hurston, an African American writer and anthropologist.
Singh also singled out attractions for eco-tourists including Lake Apopka, the Oakland Nature Preserve and the West Orange Trail.