August Hotel Tax Collections Set Record

Orange County comptroller Martha O. Haynie reports a total $102 million has been collected in the first eight months of this year, a record for any comparable period. The total also surpasses the final figures for 2003 ($93 million) and 2002 ($91.6 million).

August's collections of more than $8.3 million were 22% higher than the August 2003 posting. The county's best collections performance was in 2000 when it posted an all-time revenue high of almost $108.2 million. Orange County started the 5% tax collection in 1979.

"Cumulative collections exceed cumulative collections for last year by 18% [$15.5 million] and revised budget projections by nearly 2% [$1.7 million]," Haynie notes.

The county's Visitors and Convention Bureau, along with the state's tourist agency, has launched a $2-million national and international print, electronic, billboard and mail advertising campaign, promoting Florida's benefits, despite the estimated $20 billion in damage from the three hurricanes.

But even a $2-million promotional blitz may not be enough to attract all of the tourists normally expected in Orlando during August and September in the near future, according to locally based Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell. The marketing firm surveyed 800 active leisure travelers for two days after Hurricane Jeanne struck Sept. 4 and Sept. 5.

The firm's findings showed 22% of those surveyed less likely to visit the metro area during the entire 2005 hurricane season which traditionally begins Aug. 1 and ends Dec. 1. One in five tourists surveyed said they were less likely to visit Florida by the end of this year. One in four said they were less likely to come between July and September 2005.