Andy Clinton, president and CEO of Visit York County, outlined the organization's funding model and marketing plans and described how accommodations and destination marketing fees drive tourism promotion and event recruitment for the county.

Clinton said about 34% of the CVB's budget in the current proposal comes from accommodations and hospitality taxes, with another 54% of the overall revenue coming from voluntary preferred-hotel program fees and the destination marketing fee program. He presented performance data showing occupancy, average daily rate and revenue trends at several unincorporated hotels along the Carowinds corridor and in other county locations.

Why it matters: County accommodations-tax revenue funds marketing that brings hotel room nights, restaurant spending and tournament business that local officials and speakers say supports jobs and sales-tax collections. Clinton and Visit York County staff described recruiting high-impact events (cross-country nationals, mud runs, Spartan-type events) and the costs of bidding and hosting large championships.

Marketing and products: Michelle, director of marketing, highlighted content campaigns, influencer partnerships, an agritourism promotion with a local producer podcast, a digital itinerary platform and an interactive map planned for the fall. Staff said new software tools under consideration would allow measurement of advertising return on investment, improved PR outreach and digital visitor targeting.

Council discussion: Council members praised the CVB's work, asked about analytics and AI-enabled web features and confirmed county accommodations-tax contributions to CVB programming and to Rock Hill PRT via an existing DMF partnership.

Ending: Clinton encouraged council attendance at a county tourism celebration on May 19 and said the CVB will work with county economic development and the chamber to align incentives for prospective businesses and events.