Room-tax revenue rises

Room-tax collections in Spokane County have increased more than 7 percent this year, defying expectations that tourism driven by the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2007 would be hard to top.

The total through June exceeded $1 million, compared with about $932,000 for the same period last year.

Canadians taking advantage of their strong dollar account for some of the increase, said Harry Sladich, president of the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Spokane also continues to draw visitors from all over the Inland Northwest who regard the city as the region’s entertainment and shopping hub, he said.

“Coming to Spokane is still a vacation,” Sladich said.

At the Spokane Regional Sports Commission, spokeswoman Suzanne Boyce pointed to a growing list of athletic events in addition to mainstays such as Bloomsday and Hoopfest.

For all of 2007, she said, the commission booked 19 events good for 34,800 rooms. Although there is no breakdown for just the first six months of 2008, 30 events are already on the calendar, she said.

Participants and fans should fill 51,940 rooms by the end of the year, Boyce said.

She noted the commission already has 15 events good for an estimated 34,000 rooms booked for 2009.

Sladich said 2009 room reservations also will begin to reflect attendance at the larger conventions the bureau has been able to book thanks to the Convention Center expansion completed in time for the skating championships in January 2007. The bureau estimates the weeklong championships generated 14,000 room nights.

Room demand was down slightly this January but has been up every month since compared with 2007. February – up more than 20 percent in the city of Spokane – was particularly strong.

The skating championships had a halo effect that outlasted the event itself, said Tom Magnuson, co-chief executive officer of Magnuson Hotels, which provides reservations and other services to hotels in 50 states.

Occupancy also has been helped by the overall health of the Spokane economy and the business traffic that generates, he said.

Sladich said the visitors bureau soon will receive the results of a $20,000 study that will contain the most detailed analysis of Spokane’s tourism market ever done. The results will allow the bureau to better target its promotion dollars, he said.