SLO County Forms Tourism Marketing District
San Luis Obispo County has joined the ranks of other popular destinations in California to add a tourism tax for overnight visitors.
A unanimous SLO County Board of Supervisors voted to form a Tourism Marketing District.
Starting July 1, 2015, The TMD will begin collecting an additional 1% on existing Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) rates across the county.
The TMD tax is expected to generate nearly $3 million a year that will be used by the Visit San Luis Obispo County organization to promote and market the county and all of its communities as a year-round tourist destination.
“You’ve got Monterey County and Santa Barbara County spending five to seven million dollars a year compared to our $700,000”, says Mark Eads with the Pismo Beach Hospitality Association, “with the formation of the TMD, it’ll definitely level the playing field for us.”
Opponents of the TMD include owners of vacation rentals, bed and breakfast establishments and RV parks with many saying they don’t need marketing help even though guidelines for the TMD tax include promoting those entities.
“Obviously we are all concerned about additional fees and taxes”, Eads says, “but the fact of the matter is when they (visitors) go to Santa Barbara County or they go to Monterey County or 80 other communities in the state, they’re paying that.”
TOT accounts for about $1 million a month for the City of Pismo Beach, by far its largest source of revenue.
