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Lakeway staff finds no clear RevPAR link to grants; council approves La Quinta and SpringHill Suites HOT grants
Summary
Staff review found no clear correlation between grant awards and RevPAR metrics, and council approved two hotel-occupancy-tax grants: $26,000 to La Quinta Inn & Suites and $35,000 to SpringHill Suites.
Lakeway — City staff briefed council July 21 on an analysis of hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) grant outcomes and RevPAR (revenue per available room) trends, concluding RevPAR is not a sensitive indicator of HOT grant effectiveness. Council then approved two HOT grant requests from local hotels.
Staff summary: HOT coordinator Steve reviewed three years of available RevPAR and grant data and said the metric did not show a clear, consistent correlation between past grants and RevPAR improvements at individual hotels. He told council RevPAR alone is a blunt instrument and staff recommends asking applicants for program-specific, digital marketing results that directly link grant-funded campaigns to bookings (room nights) and measurable outcomes.
Grants approved: Council acted on two grant applications later in the meeting. La Quinta Inn & Suites requested $26,000 and reported generating 2,400 room nights with its prior $13,000 grant and an occupancy rate of about 59.3%; council approved the $26,000 award. SpringHill Suites requested $35,000, reported 1,551 room nights from last year’s digital campaign funded partly by a prior $23,000 grant, and council approved the $35,000 award. Both grants passed unanimously.
Council direction: staff to refine HOT application and post-award reporting requirements so applicants show digital campaign tracking (e.g., attributable bookings/room nights) that can be compared with grant amounts.
Councilmembers and staff agreed the best near-term approach is to require digital-marketing campaign metrics and room-night traceability from applicants to evaluate HOT grant ROI more directly than with broad market indicators like RevPAR.
