Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/305631
recruitment, with far less environmental impact, and should be developed in the same way. This new effort was financed in most cases by an additional sales tax on lodging. Tourism Development Authorities (TDAs) and Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) sprang up across the country like the prairie grass on which those p r o v e r b i a l b u f f a l o might munch. Almost overnight, travelers found that rooms in even tiny communi- ties cost as much as 6 to 7 percent more with the addition of a "bed" tax. Unlike the mantra of a popular baseball movie — "If you build it, they will come" — these TDAs and CVBs maintained that if you promote it, they will come. Communities with natural tourism assets, such as beaches or mountains, tended to fare better than those that were shilling their annual Possum Festival or whatever. But even beachgoers and mountain scenery lov- ers desire more than one or two activities to lure them to a destination again and again. What most managers of TDAs and CVBs never understood — and many still do not under- stand — is that promotion is only a small part of the equation. Much more of tourism tax revenue must be expended on upgrading existing assets, improving infrastructure and developing new attractions. It is in this context that we were gratified to hear Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta propose that a portion of the local room tax — specifically all revenues that exceed $15 million — be set aside for just those regen- e r a t i v e p u r p o s e s : improving what we have and adding new tourism assets. But the reaction of Virginia Haley, presi- dent of Visit Sarasota County (which used to be the Sarasota County Convention and Visitors Bureau), would lead one to believe Barbetta had instead suggested she dart back and forth across Interstate 75 in the dark. Haley was before the County Commission to ask for almost $800,000 in additional funds for promotion, which mostly had materialized through higher than expected tax collections. Barbetta's contention — the correct one, we believe — was that increasing tax revenues should not just be spent on more and more promotion and advertising. At some point, we need to build on what we already have, or visitors will tire of the sameness and go somewhere else. All the advertising dollars in the world will not lure visitors to a location that has lost its luster. What most managers of TDAs and CVBs never understood — and many still do not understand — is that promotion is only a small part of the equation. Much more of tourism tax revenue must be expended on upgrading existing assets, improving infrastructure and developing new attractions. OPINION Sarasota News Leader May 2, 2014 Page 88