SEATTLE — A Seattle City Council committee has recommended establishing a new business improvement area to help support funding for tourism advertising for the next 15 years.
The economic development committee voted in favor Wednesday of replacing the current Seattle Tourism Business Improvement Area, established in 2011, with an updated one.
The Seattle Tourism Improvement Area includes hotels in downtown Seattle neighborhoods and charges overnight hotel guests a fee to fund leisure tourism advertising.
According to the council, the current funding structure, which is a $4 flat fee per room each night, is not generating enough money to make Seattle competitive in tourism advertising.
The proposed ordinance would change the fee to 2.3% of the total cost of the room per night. For example, if a hotel room costs $300 per night, the fee would be just under $7. The ordinance would also allow the money generated to be used for supporting group tourism advertising in addition to leisure tourism.
The Office of Economic Development said the new fee structure will generate an estimated $15 million in the first year.
According to Visit Seattle, the funds would also be used for media relations, special events and international client events, as part of the overall mission to increase awareness of Seattle as a travel destination.
“Visit Seattle is the entity that we rely on to be able to show the real Seattle to the nation and to the world. In my lifetime, we've grown from being a small town to a global city and it's amazing to be able to see this change,” said Councilmember Dan Strauss. “I'm just so excited to be able to vote in favor because we need to get Visit Seattle the flexibility needed to help all of Seattle, because it's not just for tourists, it's for residents. It's not just for our city, it's for our entire region.”
The proposed ordinance goes to a full council vote on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
According to the council, tourism is a $3.6 billion industry in Seattle and King County that generates $322 million annually in taxes for the state and city.