Carlsbad's hotel owners are poised to make a critically important decision affecting the health of the area's tourism industry. On November 8, the Carlsbad City Council will conduct a public hearing to learn whether a majority of Carlsbad's hotel owners favor the creation of a tourism business improvement district (BID), and use the input to decide whether to approve the proposal.
As proposed and crafted by the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau – with the encouragement of several hotel owners – the tourism BID would charge a $1 per night fee on the city's occupied hotel rooms. The funds raised would pay for promotion of the visitor and tourism industry in Carlsbad.
In October, City Councilmembers heard a review of the plan presented by the City's Administrative Services Director, Jim Elliott. The process calls for a tally of opposition votes at the November 8 council meeting. Hotel owners who are against the vote must speak at the hearing or communicate with the City Council in writing.
Elliott says industry approval is not binding on the Council's final vote, but it would be unlikely the Council would approve the tourism BID without a clear majority of hotel owners in support of the plan, and would likely ask the vote to be delayed until a greater consensus can be formed.
But Elliott expects the district to win approval because the tourism industry itself designed the plan and will be in charge of how best to use the funds on its behalf. "You will have industry experts in charge of how best to use the funds, which is best for all parties," said Elliott. "The Council will greatly rely on their expertise."
The dollar-per-night fee would be added to Carlsbad hotel room bills paid by visitors to generate the funding. The money could be used only for promotion of tourism in Carlsbad.
A governing board would oversee spending of the money. Three seats would be held by representatives of the three largest hotel operators, Four Seasons Aviara, Grand Pacific and La Costa. Other hotel operators appointed by the City Council would occupy the remaining four seats. The district's annual budget would be subject to review and oversight by the Council and Mayor.
A growing number of visitors bureaus are establishing special assessment districts to guarantee secured funding, including Laguna Beach, Irvine and Santa Clara. Elliott says other tourism business improvement districts in California have all been very successful. "I've never heard of a tourism district that has not worked for the industry," noted Elliott.
Carlsbad's beautiful beaches, world-class resorts, shopping and restaurants make it a desirable destination for tourists. But to compete with other attractive destinations like Santa Barbara and Las Vegas, it takes savvy marketing and outreach, and both of these take solid, reliable funding.
While tourism bureaus including Carlsbad normally depend on funding allocated by the City Council from transient occupancy taxes, this is not dedicated funding, and in times of tight municipal budgets these funds are needed for basic services such as police and fire protection, streets and libraries instead.
Yet the City of Carlsbad relies more than ever on continued growth of its visitor industry to provide these funds, and spending for promotion is critical to ensure this growth.
The charge is expected to generate slightly more than $900,000 annually, more than double the Bureau's current funding of $408,000.
Elliott predicts the plan will become a reality. "I really think it will be very popular with the hotel industry. It will raise a lot of money that hotel operators can spend to their industry's benefit and to the benefit of the entire region."
If approved by the City Council at its November 15 meeting, the fee would go into effect on January 1, 2006.
As proposed and crafted by the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau – with the encouragement of several hotel owners – the tourism BID would charge a $1 per night fee on the city's occupied hotel rooms. The funds raised would pay for promotion of the visitor and tourism industry in Carlsbad.
In October, City Councilmembers heard a review of the plan presented by the City's Administrative Services Director, Jim Elliott. The process calls for a tally of opposition votes at the November 8 council meeting. Hotel owners who are against the vote must speak at the hearing or communicate with the City Council in writing.
Elliott says industry approval is not binding on the Council's final vote, but it would be unlikely the Council would approve the tourism BID without a clear majority of hotel owners in support of the plan, and would likely ask the vote to be delayed until a greater consensus can be formed.
But Elliott expects the district to win approval because the tourism industry itself designed the plan and will be in charge of how best to use the funds on its behalf. "You will have industry experts in charge of how best to use the funds, which is best for all parties," said Elliott. "The Council will greatly rely on their expertise."
The dollar-per-night fee would be added to Carlsbad hotel room bills paid by visitors to generate the funding. The money could be used only for promotion of tourism in Carlsbad.
A governing board would oversee spending of the money. Three seats would be held by representatives of the three largest hotel operators, Four Seasons Aviara, Grand Pacific and La Costa. Other hotel operators appointed by the City Council would occupy the remaining four seats. The district's annual budget would be subject to review and oversight by the Council and Mayor.
A growing number of visitors bureaus are establishing special assessment districts to guarantee secured funding, including Laguna Beach, Irvine and Santa Clara. Elliott says other tourism business improvement districts in California have all been very successful. "I've never heard of a tourism district that has not worked for the industry," noted Elliott.
Carlsbad's beautiful beaches, world-class resorts, shopping and restaurants make it a desirable destination for tourists. But to compete with other attractive destinations like Santa Barbara and Las Vegas, it takes savvy marketing and outreach, and both of these take solid, reliable funding.
While tourism bureaus including Carlsbad normally depend on funding allocated by the City Council from transient occupancy taxes, this is not dedicated funding, and in times of tight municipal budgets these funds are needed for basic services such as police and fire protection, streets and libraries instead.
Yet the City of Carlsbad relies more than ever on continued growth of its visitor industry to provide these funds, and spending for promotion is critical to ensure this growth.
The charge is expected to generate slightly more than $900,000 annually, more than double the Bureau's current funding of $408,000.
Elliott predicts the plan will become a reality. "I really think it will be very popular with the hotel industry. It will raise a lot of money that hotel operators can spend to their industry's benefit and to the benefit of the entire region."
If approved by the City Council at its November 15 meeting, the fee would go into effect on January 1, 2006.