Lodging tax revenue up

In the Travel and Tourism Board’s financial report of the Annual Lodging Tax Revenue Comparison, the data showed some positive information.

The total revenue for the 2019-2020 year was $181,497.51, higher than the previous year. The total revenue for the 2018-2019 year was $172,170.04. Even though the revenue for the final three months of the fiscal year, April, May and June were significantly lower than the previous year due to the COVID-19 situation, they showed an overall increase.

The Lodging Tax PAC is in place and they are campaigning for the coming election to help raise awareness to the community of his tax. This will not be a tax on the local residents but will be collected from hotels housing tourists coming in to visit the county. The board has observed that when the public properly understands this, they are more likely to vote in favor of the tax. The revenue gained will go back to the county and be used for the Travel and Tourism Board for marketing and promotion of the county’s tourism affairs. 

The board also decided to put their activities with Adbay, a marketing company, on a back burner because since January 2020 they have not been doing much work according to their contract agreement. The board did pay Adbay $10,000 already and Adbay has not sent any deliverables for their marketing work. The board members expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that money had been spent and there isn’t anything to show for it. At this time no more money will be sent to Adbay and they will wait and see what else may unfold. Adbay had been hired to assist the county in their rebranding efforts.

Regarding Truly 360, a Google affiliate marketing firm, the board will decide at which level they will sign up for their services. The Travel and Tourism Board will have a broader plan than what an individual business would because they are servicing the whole county. 

For the board’s radio campaigns, they are acquiring the services of Jack Scott Productions for their ads. The production company has given the board a generous discount for their services.