Filling the Gap: City Council Steps Up for Tourism
Last month, we got the news that Washington State had decided once and for all that tourists are terrible and, as a result, cut all funding for enticing them to come visit. Because really, we didn't want them anyway, right?
Wrong. Tourism, of course, brings in oodles of revenue, creates buckets of jobs and keeps the city alive and vibrant, even during weird times of year when Seattleites wouldn't be caught dead outside. The City Council, in partnership with Dow "Give Us Your Money, Please" Constantine acknowledged that today, during a public meeting at the Pacific Science Center.
Led by Councilmember Tim Burgess, they announced the birth of a new initiative: the Seattle Tourism Improvement Area. The initiative, which is supported by 4Culture, various business alliances, and entertainment venues, is designed to drum up additional money to help fund improvements to the city, as well as create literature and campaigns to draw tourists in. But, you ask, where will the money come from? From the press release:
When adopted by the City Council, the initiative will create a dedicated source of funding for tourism marketing and promotion by imposing a $2 per night surcharge on certain hotel rooms.
See? It won't even cost your penny-pinching self any money. It will, in fact, be paid for by other tourists, for less than the price of a mini bottle of Jim Beam. Even the hotels themselves are behind it, due to the promise of fuller establishments.
The money, which is expected to be about $5 million in additional revenue, will collected from hotels in select areas (downtown, Belltown, Queen Anne, etc.), be pooled and spent specifically on tourism-related activities and marketing. It will cost the City nothing, but will, hopefully, bring with it great income.
Of course, a localized focus on tourism doesn't exactly help the rest of the state (sorry, the Gorge, Olympia and Forks), but it will help bring in critical outside dollars, which is definitely something the City and County could use.
