DEPARTMENT: Finance
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Troy Elliott
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT: EWDC Briefing on the Proposed San Antonio Tourism Public Improvement District
SUMMARY:
This is a briefing to provide an update on a proposed San Antonio Tourism Public Improvement District (SATPID) designed to protect and grow San Antonio's $13.6 billion Visitor Industry and its associated market share.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Visitor Industry is a key economic generator for the City of San Antonio with a $13.6 billion annual economic impact. Additionally, San Antonio hosts approximately 30 million visitors annually and provides for more than 130,000 local jobs. The significance of Visit San Antonio's (VSA) efforts working jointly with its partners is directly connected to the success of San Antonio's visitor industry. Competition between destinations for leisure visitors, meetings and conventions is growing at both a national and international level.
VSA is tasked with the sales, marketing and promotion of San Antonio to convention, group and leisure visitors. VSA acted as a City department through September 2016. Beginning in October 2016, City Council approved its transition to a 501c(6) public/private entity. One of the key charges for that transition was to allow VSA to explore additional funding opportunities and the ability to expand sales and marketing initiatives and partnerships.
The proposal for the creation of a SATPID is a part of the strategy for securing additional funding to support and expand sales and marketing initiatives and is supported by the San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association (SAHLA). It is designed to positively influence demand to the various participating hotels as well as positively impacting economic opportunities for the San Antonio community as a whole.
This briefing will include an overview of the proposed SATPID and a timeline for implementation and approval.
ISSUE:
It is anticipated that the petition ...
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