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Visit Salt Lake says hotel assessment is driving events, room nights and local spending in Sandy
Summary
Visit Salt Lake told the Sandy City Council that the hotel-led convention tourism assessment area (2% on room revenue) has helped bring national youth and sports events to Sandy, generating tens of thousands of room nights and an estimated seven-figure economic impact for several events.
Visit Salt Lake representatives updated the Sandy City Council on the South District Convention Tourism Assessment Area (CTA), saying the hotel-led 2% assessment, approved by the council in October 2023, is already supporting marketing and event recruitment that benefit Sandy hotels and local businesses.
"Sandy has eight hotels, a little over 1,000 hotel rooms. On average 70% of those rooms are occupied at a rate of $120 a night," said the presenter, reporting that Sandy hotels generated "approximately $25,000,000 in room revenue" last year. The CTA’s district budget, presenters said, was roughly $7.8 million in 2024 and $8.3 million in 2025 and is split among district development/programming, a major-event impact fund and administration.
Visit Salt Lake officials and local hoteliers described dozens of CTA-supported events and targeted marketing campaigns. "We ran this in February and March 2025. We saw a big return on this… it drove close to 5,000 room nights, delivered a 7-to-1 return on ad spend," a presenter said. They credited CTA-supported recruitment and incentives with landing sports tournaments and family-oriented events at Mountain America Expo Center and nearby venues.
Council members asked how the Salt Palace reconstruction (demolition beginning in February 2027) might affect bookings; Visit Salt Lake staff said the construction window presents an opportunity to redirect some conventions and sporting events to Mountain America Expo Center and other venues in the district, with CTA funds and other incentives helping offset additional costs for events that might otherwise be split across multiple venues.
The presentation concluded with council appreciation for the timing of CTA marketing and its role in Sandy’s broader tourism and economic development strategy. Visit Salt Lake offered to provide the council with the economic-impact calculator details used in the estimates.
