Quote:It's about more than just those 2 events.  If you look at where the bulk of new hotels have sprung up around Jacksonville, there's usually a business element involved.  People come and go from Jacksonville constantly.  Many are business travelers who are here for whatever reason.  The majority of the hotels that are located near one of the high commerce areas downtown, or on the southside are consistently booked almost solid week after week. 

 

There's a reason there are so many new hotels popping up all around the city.  Companies aren't building them hoping people will show up. 

 

The bed tax is a 6% tax added to the cost of hotel rooms, and any apartments, condos, single family homes, or other dwellings that are rented out for less than 6 months at a time.  So, if a family comes down and rents a condo at the beach for a month, they're paying 6% to the city of Jacksonville as part of their fee.  It's a tidy sum that really adds up. 

 

Before someone says we don't get tourists in Jacksonville, in doing some research, tourism had a $2.2 billion economic impact on Jacksonville last year alone, and that income is rising by about 4% a year.  Lodging revenue generated from just hotels in the area was almost $360 million in 2013, and is expected to rise in 2014.  As that traffic has increased, so has the rates charged per room by hotels.  Lodging revenue from hotels increased by more than 5% last year from 2012, and that increase is expected to be even higher for 2014.  There's more than enough revenue being generated by the bed tax to assure any bonds issued for major projects will be repaid without having to have the local taxpayers carry the majority of the burden.

 

No, I'm not just plucking these numbers out of thin air.  There's a pretty comprehensive report about tourism in Jacksonville that came out a couple of months ago.  Here it is:

 

The Economic Impact of Tourism in Jacksonville, FL

 

Interesting...  I'll admit, I haven't read the report that you linked to, but initially I have to question some of the figures.  The $2.2 billion economic impact are taxes that we pull in?  $360 million is probably a pretty accurate figure after running some numbers through my head quickly.  I just can't seem to wrap my head around a $2.2 billion dollar figure.

 

I'll do my due diligence and read the report that you linked.

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