Visitors are a big deal

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Marilee Fowler is understandably excited. The president and CEO of the Cedar Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and her staff are wielding a new tool to woo visitors to town: the convention center complex that's expected to open for business in 2013.

After all, the primary purpose of the CRACVB is to bring visitors who spend money in our community. And the city's new downtown convention center, along with the upgraded U.S. Cellular Center arena and city-owned/Hilton-managed hotel, should make Cedar Rapids more competitive.

“We've always done a good job getting sports events here,” Fowler told us. “Our weak link is conventions. We don't always have the right space” to accommodate large state or regional events.

Already, the convention center's potential drawing power is yielding results. The 2014 Iowa Library Association and the 2015 Iowa League of Cities conferences are booked. “With all that's going on in the downtown area, those were easy sells,” Fowler said.

She also expects at least another 20 big events to be booked soon, those alone generating an estimated $3.5 million in direct spending over the next few years.

The new revenue will add to visitor spending that, for events secured by the CRACVB, topped $13 million from 117,000 visitors in fiscal year 2011 - even when many flood rebuilding projects were still in the planning or early stages, including those with drawing power such as the revitalized New Bohemia District and its year-round market and the riverside amphitheater, all now rounding into shape.

State tourism officials figure the economic boost from all domestic travel spending in Linn County is more than $600 million annually, second only to Polk County and supporting nearly 6,000 jobs. It also generates state tax revenue above $26 million and local revenue of nearly $10 million.

Fowler's organization uses hotel/motel tax to market events and tourist attractions. Research shows every dollar of that tax the CRACVB invests returns more than $19 in direct spending here.

Which also helps makes the case for a related issue: allowing local communities to vote on whether to increase the hotel/motel tax rate, which the state caps at 7 percent. If tourists and other visitors are drawn to attractions and amenities, why shouldn't our community and others have the option to more quickly recoup their public investments and pay off debt?

State legislators, put the hotel/motel tax on your agenda for 2013.

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