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Development Committee votes to forward Portland Tourism District FY27 agreement to full council
Summary
After a Visit Portland presentation on marketing and workforce efforts, the committee voted to recommend the FY27 Tourism Development District agreement (same terms as FY26) be taken to the full council for approval; staff noted the agreement keeps the same assessments and the 90/10 distribution of funds.
Visit Portland presented highlights of the organization's recent marketing and workforce-development work and proposed continuing the current FY26 agreement terms into FY27. Visit Portland described campaigns focused on winter weekdays, leisure marketing, and workforce partnerships with local adult-education providers. The group said it is developing a 'lightkeepers' campaign to highlight people who power Portland’s visitor economy and is piloting workforce and neighborhood-mapping initiatives in Bayside.
Staff explained that the FY27 agreement renews the current terms: assessments on hotels with 40+ rooms; 90% of collected district funds go to Visit Portland for destination marketing and related activities, while the city retains 10% to administer the district. After questions about workforce outreach and coordination with adult-education programs, Councilor Sykes moved that the committee recommend forwarding the FY27 agreement and development plan to the full council for approval; the motion passed on a committee roll call with the present members voting yes.
Committee members stressed continued focus on workforce protections and partnerships — including using the administrative funds or district channels to better coordinate worker resources — and Visit Portland said it is developing a workforce web resource and intends to coordinate with local adult‑education providers and hospitality‑sector partners.
