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Visit Bend reports flat lodging‑tax revenue, outlines marketing ROI and $561,000 in community grants
Summary
Visit Bend told BDAB that lodging‑tax receipts were essentially flat year‑over‑year through January, detailed marketing returns on ad spend, described grant awards totaling $561,000 for local stewardship projects and previewed plans to re‑enter strategic summer marketing and grow group sales.
Visit Bend presented a midyear update to BDAB April 7, reporting essentially flat transient lodging tax collections year‑over‑year through January, outlining marketing outcomes and awarding about $561,000 in destination stewardship grants for community projects.
Visit Bend executives described how the transient lodging tax operates in the city: the local tax rate is 10.4% on stays shorter than 30 days and the city retains roughly 65% of the revenue for its general fund. Visit Bend said the city’s share was just over $8 million in the most recent fiscal year and that total lodging tax collections for the city were roughly $14.3 million for the same period.
Staff presented key performance metrics: a 12‑month blended hotel occupancy of about 62.1% for the city, roughly flat lodging tax collections (down about 0.8% year‑over‑year through January) and a conservative internal forecast of flat collections for fiscal year 2026 and a 1% increase for fiscal year 2027.
Visit Bend reported that about $442,000 had been spent on targeted marketing year‑to‑date; using destination tracking and payment‑card spend data, the organization estimated that advertising attributable to those campaigns produced about $6.7 million in direct visitor spending. Visit Bend quantified that as an estimated return on marketing spend of roughly 14‑times (the organization reported the estimate as approximately 1,420% ROI for event campaign dollars).
Staff outlined three areas of emphasis going forward: (1) diversify and track marketing to increase midweek and shoulder‑season stays; (2) grow group business by pursuing conferences and RFPs (staff said early RFP activity has produced roughly 7,900 preliminary room nights tied to the new group‑sales outreach); and (3) invest in destination stewardship.
On stewardship, Visit Bend announced $561,000 in transient lodging‑tax grants awarded to six local projects. The funded projects included new EV charging infrastructure, lighting and construction for pickleball courts at Pine Nursery, new docks at Cultus and Paulina lakes (Deschutes Trails Coalition), roof repairs for Skyliner Lodge, four new downhill mountain‑bike trails at Winoga Snowpark (two designed for adaptive use) and an event‑waste/recycling pilot run by Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste. Visit Bend said the grants prioritize projects that benefit residents and extend the visitor season.
Visit Bend also introduced Xavier Borah as its new destination stewardship director and said the organization has structured a community ballot to allocate smaller discretionary awards and encourage public input on grant priorities.
On policy, Visit Bend said it provided neutral testimony on House Bill 3556 (a draft measure discussed during testimony) and had questions about drafting clarifications and potential legal issues; the organization described itself as willing to participate in policy discussions while emphasizing the need for careful language and impact analysis.
Visit Bend executives told BDAB they planned to present a draft strategic plan and budget to the board in about a month and bring that plan to city council on June 4; Visit Bend’s board will consider adoption on June 6, according to the timeline offered during the presentation.
