North Idaho awarded $1.1M in lodging tax grants

The Idaho Tourism Council is awarding North Idaho tourism centers more than $1.1 million after a robust year of visitor-fueled economic growth.

The four organizations recognized by the Boise council — the Coeur d’Alene Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Sandpoint-based North Idaho Tourism Alliance and the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce — received a share of the $6,141,270 pie resulting from a 2 percent lodging fee collected by the state’s hotel, campground and vacation rental industries.

“It was just a really nice grant for us,” Post Falls Chamber operations manager Deb Wheeler said. “It’ll do a lot of good work for us and for our area. I’m really looking forward to what we’re going to do next year in promoting Post Falls and the surrounding area.”

Chambers of commerce and tourism boards throughout Idaho receive 45 percent of the 2 percent lodging tax collected on each room. From July 2018 to July 2019, the lodging tax brought in $13.6 million in Idaho, part of the roughly $4 billion annual Idaho tourism industry. This year’s $13.6 million was a 9.4 percent increase from the 2018 fiscal year, a figure Coeur d’Alene Convention and Visitors Bureau manager Mark Robitaille attributed to top-flight tourist options in the area and steadily increasing room rates and inventory.

“We’ve seen a slight increase in the average cost per room,” Robitaille said. “Also bear in mind, over the past two or three years, [the State of Idaho] began collecting from airbnb, and we’ve seen steady increases in inventory there. But on top of those adjustments, more and more people are coming to this region. More and more people are realizing Coeur d’Alene is an amazing place to visit and an even better place to live.”

Robitaille said Coeur d’Alene’s lodging tax revenue in the past five years has doubled from the previous 33 years’ collections. Coeur d’Alene’s $715,000 this year represents the bulk of the region’s grant money, funds he said will continue to fund needed tourist materials and programs.

“We do this year round,” Robitaille sad. “Whether it’s hiking, biking, skiing or our world-class accommodations, we’re always getting the word out about the area. But the one thing I think we’ll strategically plan this next year is to advertise a little more on our off-season. People know we’re a great summer destination, but we offer so much more to visitors throughout the year… Either way, we’ll never stop advertising our area as a destination.”

Eligible organizations use their awarded grant dollars to promote cities, towns and regions of the state as travel destinations. Program elements include print and digital advertising, videos, brochures, travel and trade shows, direct mail, industry research, and websites.

“Travel and tourism continue to have a positive impact on Idaho’s economy,” Idaho Commerce Director Tom Kealey said in a statement. “This growth benefits businesses and communities of all sizes, and we are proud of our statewide marketing efforts and the grant program for keeping Idaho top of mind and influencing travel to our many incredible destinations.”

“That grant money is specifically written for us to advertise to bring tourism into the area,” Wheeler explained. “Whether that’s print, digital ads, commercials, radio ads, however we can attract visitors through mass media.”

Wheeler added the Post Falls Chamber’s share, $75,500, should be looked at as a re-investment into the area’s financial future.

“We’ve seen really nice growth in our tourism,” she said. “We’ve had some really good success. We just keep getting more and more people coming here, and we’ve had a lot of success partnering our visitors with different activities. We want people to stay in Post Falls, enjoy the lakes, enjoy the rivers, enjoy our natural beauty.”

Wheeler cited Q’emiln Park’s rock climbing venue and its ever-expanding trail system as an avenue for the coming fiscal year.

“This next year, I think we’re putting a little extra emphasis in our rock climbing audience,” she said. “We have about 350 acres to work with around Q’emiln Park. It has great cliffs and fingertip-climbing rocks, and you don’t have to drive a huge distance to get here and climb. And it’s all open to the public: Post Falls continues to make trails and markers, and they make it a really friendly place to visit. We’ll likely focus on promoting that a little more.”

North Idaho Tourism Alliance chairwoman Stephanie Sims said her organization, which took in $108,000 this year in council grant money, said the funds will benefit her organization’s constituency the most, helping off-the-beaten-path tourism.

“We represent the smaller communities in [North Idaho],” she said from Sandpoint. “We get the funds back to them so they can help travelers explore our area. These smaller communities have very small chambers and, sometimes, extremely small budgets. This will help them advertise their communities and their attractions with things like trail maps, apps, digital support. That will help travelers come here, help them stay here and hopefully spend money here.”