Room tax promoted to boost tourism
KC spending for conventions is behind many cities

By Mike Rice
Copyright 1999 Kansas City Star Co.
Reprinted with permission
Article date: July 29, 1999
 

When it comes to promoting Kansas City as a tourist attraction or an ideal convention location, civic leaders say the city lags far behind St. Louis, Dallas and Denver.

That is why area tourism, lodging and economic development groups want Kansas City voters to approve a 1 percent increase in the city's hotel/motel room tax.

If approved Tuesday, the 5.5 percent tax, also known as the tourism tax, would be raised to 6.5 percent. The increase amounts to $1 for a $100 room.

Supporters of the ballot measure emphasize that visitors - not residents - pay the tourism tax, which would not affect taxes on restaurants or retail shops.

"I think this is a no-brainer," said Patty Garney, co-chairwoman of the "Yes for Conventions and Tourism" campaign.

The tax increase would raise approximately $2.7 million a year, which would be split three ways.

The city would get about $1.5 million for the maintenance and operating budget for its convention and entertainment facilities, including Bartle Hall, the American Royal and Kemper Arena.

"Our facilities need to be kept up to date," said Wayne Chappell, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Kansas City.

Chappell's agency would get about $1 million to bolster its advertising and promotions. That money would allow the bureau to, for instance, staff more trade shows around the country or purchase advertising space in in-flight airline magazines.

"We are underfunded and outmarketed," Chappell said. "We need to be able to tell people about Kansas City."

The convention and visitors bureau operates on a nearly $4.9 million annual budget, far behind the budgets of other cities against which Kansas City competes with for conventions and travelers.

St. Louis, for instance, spends about $10.4 million a year promoting itself.

The city's Neighborhood Development Tourist Fund would get 10 percent, or about $270,000, to help fund local festivals, fairs and other similar events.

Although that fund has been characterized as a political slush fund by some city leaders, Chappell said it can go to useful purposes if used correctly.

"We know there have been some problems with that fund," he said, "but it is not all bad. " Chappell noted that Mayor Kay Barnes is developing a plan to overhaul that fund, which the bureau supports.

Chappell added that better marketing of Kansas City would protect the big investments that the city has made in Bartle Hall, Science City, the 18th and Vine District and the Kansas City Zoo.

The tax proposal also is being supported by the Hotel and Motel Association of Greater Kansas City.

That association and the convention and visitors bureau waged vigorous opposition the last time the city tried to raise the hotel/motel tax. In that 1994 election, voters rejected that measure by more than a 2-1 ratio.

That tax would have imposed a flat $2-a-night fee on hotel and motel rooms. The extra money would have gone to pay for downtown improvements, including additional convention center parking and the conversion of the lower floors of the former Muehlebach Hotel into a visitors center.

The hotel industry successfully argued that the tax would have placed the burden of improving downtown on the lodging industry and that cheaper hotels would have been hurt by the flat fee.

The percentage-based fee is much more equitable, said Karl Kruger, president of the Hotel and Motel Association of Greater Kansas City.

Even with a new tax, Kruger said, hotel rates in Kansas City would "still be a great buy."

"We want to let them find the secrets to Kansas City," he said.

Garney agreed. "Kansas City is a fabulous city," she said at a recent meeting. "Once we get people here, they will be amazed by what they see."

Enticing out-of towners

Kansas City competes with other cities for conventions and tourism dollars, but does not spend as much money on marketing and promotions. Convention and visitors bureaus market their cities to out-of-towners and try to lure conventions. A comparison of tourism budgets:

San Antonio $ 14.3 million
St. Louis $ 10.4 million
Houston $ 8 million
Denver $ 7.1 million
Indianapolis $ 6.5 million
Cincinnati $ 5.8 million
Louisville $ 4.9 million
Kansas City $ 4.8 million
Columbus $ 4.7 million

Reprinted with permission of The Kansas City Star
 

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