SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association wants to develop a Tourism Public Improvement District, or TPID, for the city to catch up with other major cities when it comes down to marketing and promotional efforts to draw in more visitors.
Fast Facts:
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TPIDs would consist of a variety of hotels in the city that currently pay hotel occupancy taxes and that have 100 rooms or more.
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The San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association would head up the district, giving funds directly to the Visit San Antonio marketing budget.
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The proposed TPID fee is 1.25 percent charged per night to guests staying only in the hotels eligible to a part of the district.
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Currently, San Antonio has 30 million visitors a year, which gives the city a $13.6 billion economic impact.
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Other major cities, such as Dallas, have seen major success with the initiative.
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If the City Council approves the TPID, it is estimated to generate $10 million dollars a year, adding to the stagnant marketing budget for Visit San Antonio, which is currently $24 million.
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The money coming in will improve strategies on attracting more visitors, as well as give the city an opportunity to showcase its history, culture, art and food.
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The city must first authorize the petitioning portion, which involves getting hotels that fit the criteria on board.
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Liza Barratachea, president of the San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association, said with about 140 hotels that pay the hotel occupancy tax and have 100 rooms or more, they would need to get signatures from at least 60 percent of those hotel owners.
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The discussion is set to take place in the next City Council meeting.
“It would be a huge win for the industry, a huge win for the city and a huge win for our community,” Barratachea said. “It will increase the number of jobs in the industry. We employ about 130,000 people in this industry. This would just be a win-win.”
“To be able to take that extra amount, to be able to spread that message even further even internationally, it would be so great for San Antonio,” said Richard Oliver, with Visit San Antonio. “We can accommodate a few more visitors. We have these assets that you may not know about. Culinary and arts and culture and history -- all the things that are important to us -- we'd like to introduce that to other people.”