Henrico supervisors approve tourism improvement district fee

The Henrico Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance May 10 to create a tourism improvement district that would levy a 2% fee on hotel rooms at all hotels with more than 41 rooms in Henrico. The money raised through the initiative – anticipated to total $8.2 million in the first year – must be used to expand visitation and hotel occupancy through marketing and sales efforts as well as incentives for events like sports tournaments and conventions to be held in the area.

Richmond Region Tourism Vice President Katherine O’Donnell noted that Hanover and Chesterfield counties, as well as the city of Richmond, have already approved their tourism districts and that the City of Ashland would approve theirs in a week.

Though the initiative acts like a tax, officials call it a fee because of the specific designation about how it can be spent. Henrico already has a transient lodging tax of 8% of a room rental cost (applicable to rooms rented for 30 consecutive days or fewer).

The efforts to implement a TID regionally have earned widespread support from hoteliers, as previously reported in the Citizen.