There were no apparent fireworks at Christiansburg Town Council's meeting Tuesday night. The agenda was amended to include four new items and rearrange a closed meeting to the end of the public items, however.
After clarifying that the town had contracted with the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, through the Blacksburg & Christiansburg Visitor Center (rather than the regional Tourism Development Council), Shane Adams made his required bi-annual appearance.
Several lodging partners and members of the TDC or chamber's board of directors were also present in the audience. In deference to new council members who were not involved during the time the initial concept was brought forward nor seated during the initial contract negotiations, the presentation began with a comparison of the differences between chamber and tourism roles.
The TDC has a seven member board, with each funding authority having one representative. The initial concept had suggested Montgomery County and both the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, along with Virginia Tech (which declined to participate). The TDC board also includes four members from the lodging industry, which is required to collect 7% of each $1 spent on rooms for the towns and less than a percent from the county (which currently has very few lodging rooms). The chamber has an 18 member board elected by its paid business membership which includes commercial enterprizes, non-profits and governments.
For the upcoming year, the TDC is anticipating a $200,000 budget, down $50,000 from this year. This is due both to current economic conditions as well as reduced funding by the Town of Christiansburg. The chamber operates within a $500,000 budget which comes from member dues, advertising sales, special events and sponsorships. The chamber has over 1,100 members and represents their business interests and those employee/customer bases.
Last May, Christiansburg put the TDC on notice of reduced funding levels, retaining 6.15% of all lodging taxes for its General Fund, but has indicated it expects the same level of service.
Bottom line was the TDC had already received a national award and is being considered for three more. Every car in a hotel/motel or B&B parking lot represents $25/tax revenue per day. Average spending is $350/day per room with an average stay of 1.8 nights. A formula was used to show that tourism spending (including activities, meals or shopping) provides $74 in tax relief per Christiansburg resident. Comprehensive reports can be viewed here.
Since the requested lodging tax was instituted, revenue per room has increased $13 and occupancy rates went up 10%. The TDC is currently editing an updated guide for visitors, noting 40,000 of these have been sent out in response to requests for information. The tourism website is also getting a facelift and TDC part-time staffers continue to work with lodging partners on making the brochures available to customers. They cannot, however, mandate that lodgers train staff or make the materials available on-site. Current lodging inventory includes approximately 1,700 rooms and this is expanding significantly with several new projects ready to come online or underway in both towns.
The TDC board will be voting on the new contract submitted by the Town of Christiansburg, which reflects the reduced funding level voted on by council last May.