The San Luis Obispo City Council voted last month to support the creation of a countywide Tourism Marketing District.

The district, proposed by Visit San Luis Obispo County, would work to market, promote and increase awareness of the county as a vacation destination.

As an active participant in the tourism community, the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce has been following this issue and in March of this year took a position supporting the efforts of bringing together a more unified tourism marketing message that enhances cooperation and collaboration countywide.

While approaches on how to best accomplish tourism marketing goals differ among tourism regions and promotional bodies, the Chamber believes that stronger alignment of messaging and a less segregated approach will more effectively leverage the diverse assets of our region and better serve our visitors.

Over the past several months, Visit San Luis Obispo County, a tourism promotion nonprofit, has been exploring the creation of a tourism marketing district with an aim of increasing the tourism marketing budget and aligning marketing efforts within the county. Visit San Luis Obispo County would be responsible for managing the funds and programs, and would report to the SLO County Board of Supervisors.

“Last night’s approval from the San Luis Obispo City Council was an important step in this public/private partnership,” said Chuck Davison, senior director at Visit San Luis Obispo County. “The Tourism Marketing District (TMD) has now received unanimous city council approval in Pismo Beach, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. We look forward to securing the support of the remaining communities, making the TMD a reality for our lodging constituents and marketing the cornucopia of offerings San Luis Obispo County presents in a manner consistent with the amazing California Central Coast.”

The proposed tourism marketing district would be funded by a 1 percent assessment added to hotel or other short-term lodging charges, which is expected to translate to approximately three million dollars each year.

The SLO City Council joined both Pismo Beach and Paso Robles city councils in unanimously adopting the resolution required to form the district, while city councils in Atascadero, Morro Bay, Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach have yet to weigh in on the issue. It is scheduled to come in front of the Morro Bay City Council on December 9 and the Atascadero City Council on January 13. The County Board of Supervisors is also reviewing the proposal and will formally consider it once the majority of cities have weighed in.

Once each community has agreed to participate in the district, the county’s hoteliers will vote. Each hotelier’s vote will be weighted based on the total taxable rents of the lodging properties. Fifty percent plus one vote of the weighted votes are required to form the district.

The City’s current transient occupancy tax rate is 10 percent with an additional 2 percent assessment for the Tourism Business Improvement District. The addition of the 1 percent proposed for the SLO County Tourism Marketing District would change the overall rate charged to a lodging customer to 13 percent, which is in line with the state average.

Throughout the county, there currently exist numerous Tourism Business Improvement Districts which serve smaller groups of constituents; these will continue to exist and function regardless of the outcome of the countywide assessment.