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TDFP │Gap Financing Support

Tourism Zones

TID │Tourism Improvement Districts

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X Areas with Low

Visitor Demand

X Areas with Med

Visitor Demand

✔ Areas with High

Visitor Demand

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Example of

Quarterly

Payments

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Tourism Zones in Virginia

VATC.org/tourismzones

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DEFICIENCY

  • Comprehensive Plan
  • Tourism Development Plan
  • Tourism Marketing Plan
  • Current Market Study
  • Tourism Zone

Tax Increment Financing

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Municipality and State divert and contribute future sales tax revenues towards the Developer’s debt with the Lender

Much like

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New Product

TDFP

Tourism Zones

Tourism Improvement Districts (TIDs)

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A business district created to increase revenue

for destination marketing & capital investment

Tourism Improvement Districts

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Tourism businesses collect new visitor fees to

fund local tourism marketing & development

TIDS

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TIDs

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TIDS

Benefited Businesses

Tourism Businesses

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  • Initiates TID interest from local tourism businesses (hotels, restaurants,

attractions, etc.)

​

  • Collaborates with Locality to develop TID boundaries, eligibility, requirements and plan

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  • Petitions Locality to create and adopt TID plan

Leading Locality

Municipality containing TID

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  • Holds public hearings to review and adopt TID plan

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  • Approves petition to create TID program

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  • Collects fees and remits them to the TID Governing Board

* Multiple localities can form

a regional TID

TID Governing Board

Governing Board over TID Plan

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  • Directs the funds received from the participating businesses

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  • Executes the marketing efforts based on the adopted plan

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  • Oversees any changes to the TID Plan

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  • Creates more marketing dollars for local tourism efforts and campaigns

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TIDS

Grow & Leverage Tourism Funding

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  • Stable and fixed funding sources for marketing efforts
  • Industry-led and privately managed and approved by stakeholders
  • Existing funding protected and new funding stays with the industry
  • Designed to increase longer stays and more visitor spending
  • Accountability and transparency
  • Mitigate the harsh impacts COVID-19

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TIDS

Fund Usage

  • Marketing, capital improvements, programming, workforce and DEI training
  • Sales site visits and events, group meeting incentives and bid fees, group commissions and rebates

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  • Pay expenses to the Administering Nonprofit associated with the TID management and efforts

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TIDS

Benefited Businesses

Funding Examples

  • Lodging 70+ rooms add 2% room/night tax
  • Eligible = advertising costs, agency fees, production, printing, distribution costs, training, travel, printed material, promotional items, information technology, market intelligence, research, & performance audits

Benefited Businesses

Funding Results

  • .75% on room daily rate

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  • Achieved ROI of 8:1 for funds allocated

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  • $5.6 Million collected in their first year

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  • 92 Large conventions & events funded

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  • Resulted in $1.6 Billion in economic impact

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  • TIDs are primarily created with lodging (hotels) as the lead partners
  • They have the visitor spending levels and frequency to establish and collect new visitor fees
  • Other tourism business sectors such as dining, retail and attractions can contribute if the local business community is unified

1 Zone

Different Businesses

Contribute

Lodging, dining, retail, sports, attractions

1 Zone

Specific Businesses

Contribute

Food, Beverage, Sports, Attractions

  • Businesses representing specific tourism sectors can collaborate and petition for a TID
  • A TID plan with only lodging, wineries, distilleries, cideries; or, restaurants or certain types of attractions can be created
  • Those benefiting businesses would collaborate, create their TID zone boundaries and plan
  • Then, petition the local government to adopt and pass the

TID plan (as with the example above)

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  • Lodging
  • Dining
  • Retail

Zone

Town

City

County

  • Wineries
  • Distilleries
  • Cideries
  • Brewery

Zone

Multiple

Counties

County A

County B

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  • Lodging

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Zone

Town

City

County

Richmond City * managing non-profit

Ashland Town

Chesterfield Counties

Hanover

Henrico

The Richmond Region recently approved a new Tourism Improvement District (TID). The TID is expected to generate as much as $8.2 million annually to support the promotion of the region as a leisure, conference and sports tourism destination.

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VATC.org/tourismzones

DHCD.virginia.gov/opportunity-zones-oz

CIVITAS Advisors

Tiffany Gallagher

tgallagher@civitasadvisors.com

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Tourism

Zone

Opportunity

Zone

Tourism

Improvement

District

TIDS

* Zones can overlap, but do not share any program

mandates, legal or funding requirements, or benefits

VRLTA

Eric Terry

eric@vrlta.org

https://civitasadvisors.com/resources/research/tourism-improvement-district

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CONTACT

Wirt Confroy

Director of Business Development�wconfroy@virginia.org

(804) 545-5552

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