The Future of the Tourism Board
On Monday, at the informal meeting of the Common Council, a new local law was introduced that would amend Section 275 Article VIII of the city code, the law that created Hudson's short-term lodging tax. The proposed amendment would not eliminate the Tourism Board, which was empowered by the original law "to take all steps it determines desirable, necessary and proper to market the City of Hudson as a destination for overnight and day-trip visitors," but it would eliminate the board's funding, which is a percentage of the revenue from the lodging tax, not to exceed $250,000 a year. Once the amendment has passed, all revenue from the lodging tax will go into the general fund. The Tourism Board will live on, but it will have to seek the approval of the Common Council to expend any of the $300,000 already set aside for its use.
The Tourism Board will also be reconstituted. Section 275-41 specifies that the chair of the Economic Development Committee will serve as the chair of the Tourism Board, four members of the board will be appointed by the mayor, and four will be appointed by the Common Council. That's not changing. Aldermen Calvin Lewis (Third Ward) was designated chair of the Economic Development Committee, so he will become chair of the Tourism Board. At the Economic Development Committee meeting on Thursday, Council president Tom DePietro indicated that there were currently two people on the mayor's list of appointees, but the Council has not yet made up its list. Those serving on the Tourism Board previously were Rich Volo (chair); Ted Gramkow, Tambra Dillon, Kristen Keck, Chuck Rosenthal (appointed by the mayor); and Jeff Hunt, Jamie Smith Quinn, Ellen Thurston, Sidney Long (appointed by the Common Council).
At the committee meeting on Thursday, it was suggested that the Tourism Board had become "too independent." DePietro expressed the opinion that the Tourism Board should meet in City Hall. (The Tourism Board started out meeting at the FASNY Museum of Firefighting, where Smith Quinn is executive director, and then moved its meetings to 1 North Front Street.) It was also suggested that the Tourism Board needed to be "guided by the Economic Development Committee." First Ward alderman Jane Trombley, who sits on the Economic Development Committee, asked, "Do they set their goals, or does that come from us?" Lewis responded, "We can set the tone."
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I was a little surprised that the Common Council was taking such a definitive step to change the funding apparatus for the Tourism Board so early in the legislative session. The change itself is relatively simple, but the impact is significant. Without guaranteed funding past the $300k currently in their coffers, the Tourism Board is going to find itself an advisory council without budget or direction.
ReplyDeleteIt seems spending some time talking to the hosts who are collecting this revenue and supported the short-term rental tax with the expectation that some money would be reinvested in tourism would allow buy-in from stakeholders that might allow for reduced funding or delayed implementation of any change. Either way, the early months of the year are not going to bring in the lion's share of the tax revenue, so there is no rush to make such a drastic change.
I have stated before that I am not overfond of our community's over-reliance on the tourism economy, which is both seasonal and fickle (we may be in for a world of hurt in an economic downturn), but I do hope the new board pursues initiatives that encourage more spending in our community and increased visitors off-season or mid-week, which helps stabilize our local workforce and provides the city the means to develop our labor force outside a single industry. The top-down approach of the board's previous iteration and their ill-conceived branding initiative were the wrong approach; finding ways to support many smaller initiatives that help drive organic growth will undoubtedly find better results and public support.
Whatever the makeup of the board, some time needs to be spent focusing on visitor experience; I would recommend partnering with hotels and hosts listed in the lodging tax rolls to create a visitor satisfaction survey, which could be a low-cost way to find out who our visitors are, where they come from, how much time and money they spend here, and what they found appealing (or disappointing) about their visit. This information could prove a valuable tool in refining the board's direction.
Finally, DePietro's comment that the board should meet at City Hall was spot-on. Locating meetings at City Hall gives the body and opportunity for public buy-in and might help build a bridge to the Common Council, which at any rate has to approve any board expenditures.