Mendocino’s tourism marketing budget will be $1.876 million for fiscal year 2022/23 – The Mendocino Beacon

UKIAH, Calif. — The Mendocino Lodging Business Improvement District Advisory Board (BID) has approved its budget and annual report and is submitting it to the Board of Supervisors for presentation on May 3 and adoption on May 17. The report provides details on the tourism industry in Mendocino and makes recommendations to staff for the 2022/2023 fiscal year. The fiscal year runs from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

The BID is an oversight board appointed by the County Board of Supervisors (BOS) to oversee the operations of the Mendocino County Tourism Commission (MCTC), also known as Visit Mendocino, and provide annual reports to the BOS. The appointees are all employees of the accommodation industry.

In 2020 (the most recent data available) tourism spending in Mendocino County was $285 million, supporting 4,590 jobs and generating $170 million in revenue. There was a 41.2% decrease in spending from 2019 to 2020 due to pandemic-related closures. However, the tourism industry quickly returned in the second half of 2020 and throughout 2021 after the lockdown ended as pandemic-related restrictions were lifted.

Mendocino County reported a 52.6% increase in transit occupancy tax in fiscal year 2020/21, or $7.1 million in revenue. Data for the second half of 2021 will be published in September 2022.

Staffing of MCTC operations has returned to pre-pandemic levels of four full-time and one part-time staff after being reduced to one and a half staff during the shutdown. According to executive director Travis Scott, all marketing activities have been integrated over the past fiscal year.

Last year, the MCTC created a drought awareness program and provided the accommodation industry with support materials to encourage water conservation. They are currently ramping up this program for the current and upcoming season. The majority of marketing dollars continue to be spent at major food markets in the Sacramento and Bay Area, where the bulk of Mendocino’s visitors come from. The MCTC is also working to bring back festivals that fell behind during the height of the pandemic and is supporting the first Purple Uni Festival in June and a Harvest Festival in November.

While tourism has increased significantly over the past year and a half, Scott reports that the increase was proportional to the two regions they track. The coastal region attracts approximately 65% ​​of tourism and the interior regions, including Anderson Valley, attract 35%.

The $1.876 million budget for fiscal year 2022/2023 includes $1.68 million from BID fees, approximately $600,000 in matching funds from the County General Fund and $168,000 from the Visit Mendocino Contingency Fund. . The Contingency Fund was created to provide funding for one year of basic expenses due to an emergency. The booming tourism market has pushed it to nearly $1 million over the past year and a half. Contributions are currently reduced and the fund will be drawn down until it reaches approximately $450,000.

The BID has also asked the BOS to change the configuration of the BID Board of Directors so that it can populate its roster with more at-large members. Current rules require that three board members be from large properties. There are not enough large estates to provide three council members. Changing the rule would allow more smaller properties to participate and fill a vacant board position for more than a year.

Current BID leadership includes President Marcus Magdaleno (Boonville Hotel), Vice President John Dixon (Glendeven Inn) and Board Members Jon Glidewell (Beachcomber Properties) and Cindi Wagner (Lords Land Retreat Center). The five-member board has one vacancy. Since December, they have been meeting regularly to prepare the annual report, which is usually sent to BOS in April and approved before the following financial year. Due to coronavirus restrictions, meetings are streamed live on the Mendocino County YouTube page at www.youtube.com/mendocinocountyvideo.

For a copy of the final report to be presented to BOS, please visit www.mendocinocounty.org/government/planning-building-services/meeting-agendas/business-improvement-district-advisory-board-bid