Sprucing up helps city 'dots' connect APPEAL Prospect Avenue work part of plan from A1

Oversized flower pots dress up Prospect Avenue downtown, part of Positively Cleveland's "Curb Appeal" campaign to make the city's public spaces more appealing.

(Marvin Fong Marvin Fong Marvin Fong)

Cleveland, Ohio – The city's biggest civic boosters got a big boost of their own this month: a nearly 40 percent increase in the tourism bureau's budget, starting in September.

The extra money – about $3.5 million a year -- will pay for more ads touting the region, more sales staff hawking the new convention center, and more signs and beautification efforts designed to improve the city's appeal as a tourist destination.

Top travel tax burden

Top U.S. cities where travelers incur the highest total tax burden, factoring in general sales taxes and taxes that target car rentals, hotel stays and meals. Listed cities are followed by the total travel taxes paid per day by an average visitor in 2013.

1. Chicago, $41.04

2. New York City, $38.65

3. Minneapolis, $36.70

4. Kansas City, $36.61

5. Indianapolis, $36

6. Cleveland, $35.41

7. Boston, $35.32

8. Seattle, $35.11

9. Nashville, $34.75

10. Houston, $34.16

Source: Global Business Travel Association Foundation

It's been a banner summer for Positively Cleveland, the city's tourism bureau, which coordinated a community-wide effort to land the 2016 Republican National Convention and helped welcome thousands of athletes and their families here for the Gay Games last week.

Perhaps its longest-lasting achievement, however, came earlier this month, when agency leaders convinced local government officials to boost the organization's funding by more than a third.

The extra money comes courtesy of a 1.5 percent bed tax, established in 1992 to fund construction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Instead of expiring next month, the tax will continue to be collected -- for the next 40 years – and used to support tourism-related programs. Cuyahoga County Council unanimously approved the tax extension at a meeting in early August.

The tax is expected to raise roughly $4.7 million annually, depending on hotel occupancy. A fourth of the proceeds – about $1.2 million a year – will be sent directly to the Rock Hall to help pay for the Rock Hall induction ceremonies that take place in Cleveland every three years.

The rest – about $3.5 million – will support the programs of Positively Cleveland, which this year approved an operating budget of about $9 million (another $3 million in its budget supports various capital projects, including construction of a convention center hotel and the payoff of Gateway debt).

David Gilbert, president and CEO of the agency, said the bureau's 30-member board of trustees will decide how the money is spent.

Some of it will go to extend the reach of the organization's new destination brand campaign. Some will be spent cultivating and recruiting groups for the new convention center. And some will be spent on the agency's new "wayfinding" campaign, designed to help visitors (and residents) more easily maneuver throughout the city.

The bureau's success should be easy to gauge, said Gilbert.

"Ultimately, we'll be judged by the growth of the travel and tourism industry," said Gilbert. "How many jobs it creates, how many people are visiting. That, to us, is the bottom line."

What visitors bureaus spend in other regions

Indianapolis: $13.5 million

Cincinnati: $7.8 million

Columbus: $11.5 million

Cleveland: $9 million

Source: the visitors bureaus; figures are for 2014

The bureau released a report last week that showed visitors to the region increased by 4 percent in 2013, to 16.2 million. The region supported 63,394 tourism-related jobs, also up 4 percent from the previous year.

The bulk of the funding for the private nonprofit organization comes from Cuyahoga County's bed tax, which is set at 5.5 percent (numerous cities, including Cleveland, tack on an additional 3 percent).

In addition to the 1.5 percent that had been earmarked for the Rock Hall, that 5.5 percent includes 1 percent directed toward paying off the convention center debt. The remaining 3 percent funds Positively Cleveland.

Gilbert said his agency's budget is lower than bureaus in many similarly sized cities. Experience Columbus, for example, has an $11.5 million budget this year; Visit Indy plans to spend $13.5 million marketing the greater Indianapolis region in 2014.

The tax extension earned the support of the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association, an advocacy group that frequently opposes travel-related tax hikes.

Key to the organization's support for this tax, according to association president Matthew MacLaren, is that its proceeds are targeted specifically toward bringing more visitors to the area.

"Any extension of the tax must continue to be focused on generating overnight guests to the Cleveland area," wrote MacLaren, in a letter supporting the tax extension. "Directing the extension of the 1.5 percent bed tax to Positively Cleveland for tourism related capital improvements is necessary to offset the business Cleveland hotels lose from high tax rates."

In a phone interview, MacLaren added that high travel taxes – and Cleveland's are among the highest in the nation – discourage travelers from coming to a city.

The Global Business Travel Association ranks Cleveland sixth in the nation – behind Chicago, New York and Indianapolis – in the tax burden it places on its visitors. The group estimates that an average traveler to Cleveland pays $35.41 a day on travel taxes, defined as general sales taxes combined with taxes on hotel stays, meals and car rentals.

"More and more groups are looking at tax rates when deciding where to stay," according to MacLaren.

Gilbert, however, said he was unaware of any group that had decided against coming to Cleveland because of its high taxes. "We've never had an issue that I can recall where our sales tax rate or our occupancy tax has made us less competitive," he said.

The tax extension also earned overwhelming support from the region's mayors.

Bruce Akers, the former mayor of Pepper Pike and a member of Positively Cleveland's board of trustees, said 50 of 57 county mayors supported the tax extension.

It also won unanimous support among members of Cuyahoga County Council.

Even so, Councilwoman Sunny Simon said she initially favored allocating some of the bed tax money to individual communities – she specifically cited the lakefront suburb of Euclid -- to help them attract both short-term visitors and long-term residents.

She said she and Gilbert agreed to talk about efforts to promote individual communities' efforts as part of a regional plan.

Akers said most suburban leaders are able to see the big picture. "I think most mayors agree that when we all help promote tourism and travel and conventions – that brings economic benefits to everyone. We're all in this together."

Akers, a member of the tourism board since 1977, said he believes the region has hit its stride.

"That old 'Mistake on the Lake' stuff is dying out," he said. "There's a momentum here. It truly is an exciting time for this community."