A tax paid by hotel guests reflects an October increase in tourism in Santa Barbara
When you crunch the October numbers, Santa Barbara’s Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is up from the same time last year.
The TOT or bed tax is the 12 percent tax added to a guests bill when they stay overnight.
The tax collected by hotels in October 2017 rose 9.2% from October 2016.
Santa Barbara Finance Director Bob Samario credits new and improved hotels.
The Hotel Californian and the Belmond El Encanto have been busy.
Short term rentals didn’t fare as well.
If you factor them in, the overall TOT increase in October is 3.9 percent.
The city collected $1.7 million during the month.
The tax makes up about 15 % of Santa Barbara’s general fund.
