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VisitAurora presents three‑year plan as council members raise concerns about $2 nightly fee and hotel promotion
Summary
VisitAurora outlined a three‑year strategic plan focused on sales and marketing, destination alignment, organizational strength and destination management. Council members raised concerns about declines in lodging tax revenue, the $2 destination marketing fee, perceived promotion of non‑Aurora hotels and VisitAurora overhead.
VisitAurora President and CEO Bruce Dalton presented the organization’s three‑year strategic plan to the Aurora City Planning and Economic Development Policy Committee, saying the plan focuses on increasing overnight stays, supporting product development such as festivals and hotels, expanding destination awareness and aligning tourism strategy with citywide economic development goals.
Dalton said VisitAurora’s work responds to a recent downturn in business travel: “The first quarter of 2025, the lodgers tax collection in the city of Aurora were down 17% from the first quarter of 2024,” Dalton said, and added the destination marketing fee collections for the first quarter were about $66,000 below VisitAurora’s 2025 budget projection.
Why it matters: VisitAurora is the city’s destination marketing organization; changes in lodging tax and the destination marketing fee affect its operating budget and how much the organization spends to promote hotels, festivals and other…
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