MCCVB bureau hits refresh button on tourism improvement district.

The Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau is engaging in a little hotel housekeeping, so to speak.

In 2006, the nonprofit agency that coordinates tourism marketing for the region established the Monterey County Tourism Improvement District. It’s a common type of business improvement district, where owners, in essence, tax themselves to create revenue that in turn is used for the good of the entire district.

In the case of TIDs, the revenue is used for destination marketing to attract overnight visitors in what is a very competitive race for tourism spending, especially among popular California travel destinations.

Monterey County is in constant competition with Napa Valley and San Diego, for example, to capture the attention of travelers contemplating their next weekend getaway.

The first TID in the country was created in West Hollywood in 1989. Since then, 100 destinations throughout California have followed suit, raising a collective $250 million in revenue, according to a report by the MCCVB.

In the case of the MCTID, hotel owners agreed to join, paying a flat fee for every night a guest stays in a hotel. The fee is tacked on to guest bills. Full-service hotels that include restaurants pay up to $2 per night, while limited-service hotels pay at least $1. It accounts for between 60 and 65 percent of the MCCVB’s $7.2 million annual budget, says Tammy Blount-Canavan, president and CEO of the MCCVB.

(Pacific Grove’s fees are higher, with limited hotels—which makes up almost all of the current lodging businesses—paying $2 and full-service paying $4. Half of the fee goes to the district, and half goes to the P.G. Chamber of Commerce for its own tourism expenses.)

Now, 12 years later, it’s time to put the old district to bed, according to Blount-Canavan. In May, the bureau created the 2019-2013 MCTID Management District Plan, basically an update of the current district, which it wants to end on Dec. 31.

The current district was created under the 1989 state law that allowed the first TID to be created, but now the MCCVB is seeking to reorganize under a later law passed in 1994 that Blount-Canavan says “rightfully puts the control of the use of the funds in the hands of the payer.” In other words, it gives the control to hotel owners.

The district includes 256 lodging businesses in three zones. Zone 1 encompasses unincorporated county areas and the cities of Carmel, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside. Zone 2 is comprised of Salinas hotels and Zone 3 is Pacific Grove. The fee is not assessed on timeshares, short-term rentals or RV parks.

The assessment is expected to bring in approximately $4.5 million a year for five years, for a total of more than $30 million. The MCCVB expects that to translate into $518 million in visitor spending, which in turn creates $36 million in state and local tax revenue.

“It’s a great example of a public-private partnership,” Blount-Canavan says.

In order for the new district to take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, the MCCVB is asking city councils and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to approve ordinances this fall, starting with the Monterey City Council. (Monterey is listed as the “lead agency,” on the plan, as the city that contributes more than $2 million a year, almost half of the district’s annual revenue.)

Monterey’s council received public testimony on Sept. 18 and will hold a public hearing on Oct. 16 to consider approval.

Throughout the summer the MCCVB and chambers of commerce laid the groundwork for owners to buy in and sign a petition in favor of the creation of the district, a necessary step.

For example, in Pacific Grove, Chamber of Commerce President Moe Ammar says the chamber held a meeting about seven weeks ago to talk about the new district. There was no opposition and all owners present signed the petition.