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Commission discusses event funding program changes and receives bed-tax, occupancy updates
Summary
Commissioners reviewed possible changes to event funding rules, including consecutive-day requirements and ineligible event types, and staff reported January bed-tax and lodging trends showing a flat occupancy and declines in non-hotel collections.
The Scottsdale Tourism Development Commission discussed possible revisions to event funding rules and received a staff report on bed-tax collections and lodging trends during its Feb. 25, 2025 meeting.
Staff member Steve outlined items for the commission to consider during an upcoming program redline for the matching event advertising fund and related programs: reduce or reevaluate the two-consecutive-day requirement for the event development funding program; clarify that events currently participating in the community event funding programs are not eligible to apply to the event development program; reconsider which event types are ineligible (examples mentioned included expos, trade shows, concerts, film festivals and select sporting events); evaluate removal of seasonality funding criteria; and consider whether influencer costs should be eligible expenses.
Commission discussion focused on maintaining a development-program hierarchy so events that graduate to development funding do not simply “jump back down” by adding an element. One commissioner urged evaluating whether charitable elements could be encouraged; staff said the city attorney advised staff that contractually the city cannot require charitable contributions but that staff can emphasize voluntary charitable opportunities in post-event materials.
Steve presented bed-tax and lodging metrics through January: total bed-tax collections for the fiscal year-to-date were $18,900,000, representing about 57% of the working forecasted annual total of $32.8 million. He broke down lodging collections as $15,000,000 from resorts/full-service/limited-service properties and $6,000,000 from non-hotel sources, noting non-hotel collections were down about 8% year-over-year and constituted approximately 40% of total bed-tax collections to date.
Steve said marketing and lodging metrics over the past 12 months showed flat occupancy, an average daily rate decline of about 3.5%, and a RevPAR decline of about 3.4%. Group occupancy and RevPAR figures were also down modestly. Staff told commissioners they plan a redline draft of proposed program changes and will return to the commission with recommendations before a city council submittal.
Commissioners requested the redline bring clarity to eligibility rules and urged staff to provide a clear set of options for council consideration.
