Visit High Point projects bigger occupancy-tax receipts, plans Winterfest light show and owns event assets

Melody Burnett, president and CEO of Visit High Point, presented the organization's FY2025-26 budget to the High Point City Council and described revenue trends, staffing and planned programs for the coming year.

Burnett said Visit High Point's most recent board meeting showed occupancy-tax receipts performing about 9% above the prior year and that the organization amended its FY2024-25 budget to reflect stronger revenue flows. "Occupancy tax is flowing and flowing nicely," Burnett said, adding that the organization's current FY projection is about $2,589,000 in total revenue lines shown on her slide.

Burnett said Visit High Point will remain at eight full-time staff for the coming year and will add interns and part-time visitor-center help. She described modest increases in administration (a 5% personnel increase tied to a three-year compensation plan) and a 7% increase in tourism-promotion spending to support a new blended website strategy (liveinhighpoint.com and visithighpoint.com) and additional marketing flexibility.

Among planned projects, Burnett described a Winterfest light-show experience at Truist Point Stadium, funded in part by a $200,000 ARPA allocation and implemented with an out-of-state vendor. She said Visit High Point plans to own the event assets so the city can use them repeatedly and trade assets with other stadiums to refresh the offering. The proposal would schedule the first activation in November, in time for the High Point Holiday Party, and continue through December and possibly into January.

Burnett also said Visit High Point manages or publishes signature collateral including a destination guide, a home furnishings and design guide and a High Point Autism Travel Guide. She noted the city now has more than 300 short-term rental listings and said Visit High Point uses Placer.ai data to measure downtown foot traffic and other visitation trends. "We were really moving the needle in our sales department," Burnett said, noting an increase in economic impact metrics and direct sales figures.

Council members asked questions about staffing, direct-group sales, and event logistics. When asked whether outdoor Winterfest activations would proceed in inclement weather, Burnett said the stadium's concourse can shelter visitors and that the show would go on. Councilmembers praised the organization's work promoting High Point's certified-autism-friendly amenities and mobile data use for event planning.

Why it matters: Visit High Point leads the city's visitor-economy strategy; occupancy-tax changes and one-time grant-funded events affect marketing, partnership planning and the city's arts-and-tourism spending obligation. Burnett said state law requires 15% of certain lodging revenue to be used for arts- and tourism-related projects; Visit High Point counts the stadium debt-service partnership toward that obligation and is planning additional earmarked projects to close the remaining gap.

What happens next: Council did not vote on Visit High Point's budget request during the meeting; staff and Visit High Point will continue budget conversations as the city finalizes the FY2025-26 proposal.