Tourists visiting Huntington Beach will soon start paying more when staying at a local hotel or short-term rental.
The city is increasing the extra amount tourists pay on their nightly room rates by 2%, money that will be spent marketing the city. It’s part of efforts to keep Huntington Beach competitive and known as a travel destination in Southern California, officials said.
Tourists staying overnight in the city currently pay 14% extra on their stays, money split between the city and Visit Huntington Beach, a nonprofit tourism marketing agency.
Most of the money, 10%, is generated by a city tax that goes to the city’s general fund. The remaining 4%, about $7 million a year, doesn’t go to the city but to Visit Huntington Beach via a tourism business district.
The City Council at a public hearing over the matter on Tuesday, June 5, unanimously approved increasing that assessment to 6%. The increased assessment could go into effect as soon as July, giving Visit Huntington Beach more money to market the city.
The city did not change its 10% transient occupancy tax.
The increase is expected to bring in another $3 million a year for the nonprofit Visit Huntington Beach, totaling $10 million a year. Twenty-one hotels and another 200 short-term rentals pay into the citywide tourism district that was formed in 2002.
The increase would put Huntington Beach near the top of what other Southern California cities charge extra to visitors for staying overnight. Visitors in Anaheim who stay at a hotel that pays into the city’s tourism district — which encompasses the resort district around Disneyland — are charged an extra 2% that goes to the tourism district. The city also has a 15% hotel tax. In San Diego, visitors pay up to 12.5%, depending on the hotel’s size, and combined city and tourism assessments.
Hotels can pay for the tourism district assessment themselves, but typically the cost is passed on to guests.
Visit Huntington Beach is arguing that several Southern California destinations are adding new travel and hotel experiences “that are posed to draw visitors to them and away from Huntington Beach,” according to a presentation provided to the council.
Without increasing Visit Huntington Beach’s marketing budget, the agency says the city will have a less visible presence compared to other tourist destinations, which could cause a drop in overall revenue for the city.
The marketing agency estimates more than 2 million people a year visit Huntington Beach from outside the county.
“Because these visitors choose Huntington Beach over many other places, this means that our local businesses can stay open just not during the busy summertimes but also during those year-round times where we really need business,” said Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Visit Huntington Beach.
A few local businesses and hotels wrote letters to the City Council saying Huntington Beach may lose visitors to other coastal California cities over the next few years and asked that the city approve the increased rate.
This story has been updated.
