Durango needs to focus its tourism efforts, an industry official told an audience of about 100 business people Wednesday.
“By its nature, the tourism industry is fragmented. Where there’s fragmentation, there’s usually a leadership void, a mission void,” said Bob Kunkel, executive director of the Durango Area Tourism Office.
Kunkel hosted the 2015 Durango Tourism Industry Briefing on Wednesday at the Durango Public Library.
Tourism has been doing well in recent years. The city’s lodgers-tax revenue grew 11.6 percent last year, while county lodgers-tax revenue was up 12.5 percent. City sales-tax revenue increased 5 percent.
While tourism has been strong, Kunkel said the tourism office needs more money to help tourism take off.
“Doing better just requires more resources,” he said. “We’ve got to circle back and take a look at our funding mechanism, which is the lodgers tax. There’s room to take it up a notch.”
DATO is funded largely by the city’s 2 percent lodgers tax and the county’s 1.9 percent lodgers tax on hotel stays. The organization has a $1.1 million budget this year.
Raising the lodgers tax rate would require voters’ approval. Kunkel said he had no timeline for pushing the issue.
Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel, said the city should stop diverting lodgers-tax revenue to purposes other than marketing.
“We’re taking it out, and it’s really the wrong move,” he said.
This year, $135,000 of lodgers-tax revenue is going to match federal grants to fund Durango Transit. Amber Blake, the city’s multimodal administrator, defended the appropriation.
“Getting people downtown is paramount to keeping our economy vibrant,” Blake said in a phone interview.
Kunkel also spoke of the need for tourism businesses to get on the same page. Tim Walsworth, executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District, agreed.
“The challenge is how do we speak with a collective voice when needed,” Walsworth said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
