I grew up in the hotel and restaurant business in Santa Fe, N.M., and really understand the value of the lodgers tax.
But it’s time we ask ourselves if we really want to attract more visitors to the Durango area with those tax dollars or if we want to invest those same dollars in ways that help grow the infrastructure to support tourism in Durango and La Plata County.
Take a look at last summer. Even with the pandemic, Durango’s streets, restaurants and hotels were jammed with visitors to our town. Think back to 2019. Our streets were teeming with visitors to the point that it was too crazy!
Don’t get me wrong, I know how important tourism is to our community, but instead of attracting more and more visitors, a phenomenon that will happen anyway, let’s use those tax dollars to ensure visitors have the experience they came for.
The worst thing that can happen is for visitors to go away unimpressed with our town and telling other potential visitors not to bother, that coming to Durango wasn’t worth it. Let’s invest those dollars wisely.
John EganDurango
