Tourism revenue from hotel occupancy tax rebounds in Greene, Washington
JoAnne Marshall, director of Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, navigates the new website in her office in this 2018 photo. The new website cost about $2,000 and was paid for with the county无毛视频檚 hotel occupancy tax.
JoAnne Marshall
Revenue from the hotel occupancy tax in Greene and Washington counties rebounded last year after pandemic-related shutdowns were lifted, but the figures still have not returned to the same levels as they were before COVID-19 took hold in the region.
The 5% occupancy tax on all hotel stays helps to fund tourism promotions in both counties, meaning the steep drop in revenue in 2020 stalled their marketing outreach and forced the agencies to recalibrate their approaches moving forward with hopes that the worst of the pandemic is now behind them.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 no question COVID had a significant negative impact on hotel stays across the country,无毛视频� said Jeff Kotula, who leads the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency. 无毛视频淲hen the economy was performing well, we didn无毛视频檛 have those problems. When COVID hit, we wanted to rethink that and do more with less.无毛视频�
Part of what helped the tourism agency continue through the economic downturn was that it无毛视频檚 wrapped into the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, which allowed it to keep administrative costs down. Kotula, who also is executive director of the chamber, said the vast majority of its hotel occupancy revenue comes from leisure stays, although they无毛视频檙e working to also boost business trips to the county.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e continuing to invest in tourism assets,无毛视频� Kotula said. 无毛视频淲e have tourism grants we award each year. When revenue was down, we did scale back, but not to a significant level because we wanted to continue promoting (events and attractions) so when they came back, we were ready to go.无毛视频�
Washington County received about $2.2 million in revenue from the hotel tax in 2019, but that figure dropped to barely over $1 million when shutdowns took effect in 2020. The number rebounded to about $1.5 million last year with hopes it will increase even more in 2022.
The agency typically awards one round of tourism grants annually 无毛视频� it just delivered $191,000 to 17 different organizations, including two $5,000 grants to the Observer-Reporter for upcoming events 无毛视频� but the bounce-back in revenue in 2021 will allow it to make three disbursements this year. The tourism agency also used the downturn to change its marketing approach and focus on social media and digital resources, Kotula said.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e continuing to invest in tourism assets,无毛视频� Kotula said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e very fortunate because our tourism assets are very diverse.无毛视频�
There is a monthly average of 50 locations that remit the hotel tax to Washington County, according to county revenue figures. Meanwhile, the number of properties in Greene County that pay the tax is smaller, with just eight included in the mix, according to JoAnne Marshall, who is director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency.
Greene County also relies more heavily on the natural gas industry for hotel occupancy, so the ebb and flow of drilling in recent years may have more to do with its boom and bust market rather than the pandemic. The county received $166,889 in 2019, but revenue dropped to $99,386 in 2020. Both of those years, the occupancy tax was 3%, but the Greene County commissioners increased the tax last February to 5%, which accounts for a portion of the increase when the county received $143,329 through October 2021.
Marshall said county officials began noticing a revenue decline in late 2019, but because the natural gas drilling industry was able to continue working through the beginning of the pandemic, the larger drop-off was delayed for a few months until the summer of 2020.
无毛视频�(The drilling) industry also kept working through the beginning of the pandemic which kept our occupancy higher in the first few months of the pandemic compared to those relying on leisure travel,无毛视频� Marshall said. 无毛视频淚 remember in April and May (2020) thinking our county was lucky compared to so many of my counterparts across the state that were shutting down their offices while also laying off staff.无毛视频�
But the eventual loss in revenue did force the county to lay off one full-time position in the office, although there is hope that a new part-time employee will be hired later this year. The agency also did not print its annual tourism guide in 2021, but Marshall said they are bringing it back this year and plan to begin distributing it soon. The agency also expanded its online presence during the pandemic.
无毛视频淵ou didn无毛视频檛 know when or if we could get back to normal, when regulations would be lifted or when people would go out,无毛视频� Marshall said. 无毛视频淚t forced us to look at more of our digital footprint and improve on social media, email marketing, website design. It无毛视频檚 always an opportunity to rethink.无毛视频�
Fayette County also saw a drop in revenue in 2020, but its revenue figures boomed last year and exceeded its total income in 2019. That county received nearly $2.9 million in 2021 无毛视频� up from $2.3 million in 2019 and $1.4 million in 2020 无毛视频� with the help of various rental cabins around Ohiopyle and the prestigious Nemacolin resort in Farmington.
County tourism officials are now hopeful that many large-scale events that were canceled in 2020 and pared down last year will come back in full force as the pandemic eases.
无毛视频淲e cannot be continually recovering from the pandemic; we need to build upon the foundation for tourism无毛视频檚 expansion and look to the future,无毛视频� Kotula said. 无毛视频淲e continue to prioritize long-term growth and focus on investing in projects that encourage new economic and tourism development, attracts new visitors and increases quality of life for all citizens.无毛视频�
Marshall is also looking forward to a return of normalcy this year with the expectation that the resumption of in-person classes and events at Waynesburg University and fans attending West Virginia University sporting events in droves will bring people to Greene County to stay overnight, helping to boost hotel usage.
无毛视频淚t is hard for tourism professionals to look beyond anything but a positive outlook,无毛视频� Marshall said. 无毛视频淭here have been ups and downs alongside adjustments for everyone, but I believe that we will all come out stronger.无毛视频�
Washington County
2019 无毛视频� $2,234,634
2020 无毛视频� $1,032,644
2021 无毛视频� $1,527,830
Greene County
2019: $166,889*
2020: $99,386*
2021: $143,329**
*3% tax rate
**5% taxrate collected through October 2021