[Vision2020] News Release: Tourism Tax Receipts Rebound to Near Pre 9/11 Levels

[Barbara Richardson Crouch]

> NEWS RELEASE
> 
> For Immediate Release: Aug. 15, 2005
> 
> Information Contact: Bob Fick, 208-332-3570 x 3628
> 
>  
> 
> Tourism Tax Receipts Rebound to Near Pre 9/11 Levels
> 
>  
> 
> Despite the persisting drought that has frustrated Idaho's ski area
> operators, the state's tourism industry in the past year finally
> approached the growth level it had experienced before the 2001 East
> Coast terror attacks.
> 
>  
> 
> Receipts from the state's tourism tax, the 2 percent tax on hotel, motel
> and campground receipts, increased 7.3 percent during the fiscal year
> that ended June 30, hitting a record $5.7 million.
> 
>  
> 
> The tax finances tourism promotion, both locally and statewide.
> 
>  
> 
> The last time growth was higher was in 1999-2000 just before the state
> economy began slipping. The economic slowdown dropped growth to 3.5
> percent the following year, and it turned negative from mid-2001 to
> mid-2002 as the nation reacted to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. 
> 
>  
> 
> The industry began recovering the following year but did not exceed
> pre-attack tax receipt levels until 2003-2004. Growth in the last fiscal
> year, 2004-2005, was nearly two percentage points higher than the year
> before.
> 
>  
> 
> Both years showed actual growth in tourism since the percentage
> increases were well ahead of the 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent average
> increase in room rates estimated for the period by The Hospitality
> Research Group based in Atlanta.
> 
>  
> 
> Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry has been increasing
> as well in another sign of real expansion in tourism. Over 1,100 more
> people were working in those tourism-related jobs in June than a year
> before, and nearly 1,200 more joined the payrolls in July, pushing total
> employment to almost 61,000.
> 
>  
> 
> Growth in the in 2004-2005 came despite a slight decline in hotel-motel
> revenues in January and a significant reduction of over 21 percent in
> February when a lack of snow plagued many areas.
> 
>  
> 
> Blaine County, home of the Sun Valley resort, reported $1.5 million less
> in room revenues last February than in February 2004, a 37 percent
> reduction that accounted for nearly half of the decline in revenues
> statewide.
> 
>  
> 
> In what may be a consumer response to record gasoline prices, room and
> campground revenues statewide were off fractionally in June and then
> dropped nearly 3 percent in July from the year ago levels.
> 
>  
> 
> Room revenues were flat year-over-year in Blaine County in July while
> they were off over $800,000, or 15 percent, with similar percentage
> declines in Bonner and Valley counties.
> 
> -end-
> 
>  
> 
> On the Web:
> 
> Idaho State Tax Commission: http://tax.idaho.gov/reports.htm
> <http://tax.idaho.gov/reports.htm> 
> 
>  
> 
> News Directors/Editors: A chart of annual tourism tax receipts from 1997
> to 2005 follows.
> 
>    
> 
>  
> 
>   
> 
>    Source: Idaho State Tax Commission  
> ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
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