Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
February 28, 2008 issue
Story by Sam Calhoun
The numbers are in from the Boone Convention and Visitors Bureau and it looks like January 2008 was one the best Januarys ever in terms of hotel occupancy in the Town of Boone. According to Mac Forehand, director of the Boone Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotel occupancy tax revenues were $39,281.79 in January 2008, up 21.4 percent from January 2007 revenues of $32,371.
Those numbers, mixed with similar increases in attendance during January at the High Country’s four ski slopes, show that the ski industry is alive and well in the region and contributing to the revenue base.
“We are very thrilled about the numbers from the Boone Convention and Visitors Bureau,” said Lenny Cottom, co-owner of Hawksnest Resort. “These numbers mirror our numbers and increased business. It’s been a very solid year for everybody in the ski business.”
“We had one of the best Januarys on record,” said Brad Moretz, co-owner of Appalachian Ski Mountain, “and Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend was great too.”
Gunther Jochl, co-owner of Sugar Mountain Resort, and Kim Jochl, pubic relations and marketing director for Sugar Mountain Resort, both said that attendance numbers for their resort in January 2008 increased from January 2007, and that Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend attendance numbers were higher than last year as well.
“We’ve had a great season so far,” said Kim Jochl. “And we’re looking ahead to another month of skiing.”
“For every dollar spent by people coming to North Carolina to ski, only 25 cents is spent at the ski slopes. The largest portion of that money goes toward lodging,” said Gil Adams, president of the North Carolina Ski Area Association and marketing and public relations director for Ski Beech, who said that Ski Beech also posted good attendance numbers in January.
The Boone occupancy tax is a sales tax on hotel rooms. According to Forehand, virtually every town and county in North Carolina has the tax and most are between 3 and 6 percent. Boone’s occupancy tax was enacted in 1988. Under North Carolina state law, every town or county has to make an individual request to the North Carolina general assembly to levy the tax, and the tax rate is decided upon locally.
Boone’s occupancy tax is 3 percent of the cost of a hotel room, so the occupancy tax revenue of $39,281.79 roughly represents a total revenue of $1,296,299.10 for Boone hotels in January 2008. As a comparison, the occupancy tax rate in Blowing Rock and in unincorporated parts of Watauga County is 6 percent.
Revenues from occupancy taxes, as required by North Carolina state law, are split between tourism promotion and tourism support, according to Forehand. In Boone, 60 percent of the occupancy tax revenues are spent on tourism promotion and 40 percent is given to the Town of Boone’s general fund.
Even though occupancy tax revenues considerably increased for January 2008, the revenues for January 2007 were almost $1,000 down from January 2006—from $33,683 in January 2006 to $32,371 in January 2007.
“The winter is more volatile because it is weather dependant. Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend is really, really important too,” explained Forehand. “The climate is the essence of why people come here. But we’re happy—it’s going to be a great ski season.”
“This is evidence that the local ski industry helps to fill the hotels, restaurants and local retail establishments. We are thankful and fortunate to have the continued support of these business,” said Cottom. “These numbers are particularly good in light of the national economic turndown—it makes the High Country a promising place to be.”
Boone currently has 18 hotel properties with 1,285 hotel rooms, counting the 77-room La Quinta Inn that opened on February 14. Since the La Quinta Inn opened this month, its capacity is not reflected in the January 2008 occupancy tax numbers.
Forehand said that Boone’s hotel room count is the highest since 2002, but the quality of the rooms is higher than in 2002. Forehand expected the number of hotel rooms to stay constant for the foreseeable future, and reminded that the loss of hotel rooms from the closing of the Oakwood Inn, Cardinal Inn and Quality Inn were replaced by new rooms in the Country Inn, Sleep Inn and La Quinta Inn.
A look at January 2008 occupancy tax revenues from the Sugar Mountain Tourism Development Authority paints the same picture. In January 2008, the Sugar Mountain Tourism Development Authority received $50,528.35 in occupancy taxes, up from $41,646.67 in January 2007 and $47,516 in January 2006.
For more information, call the Boone Convention and Visitors Bureau at 828-262-3516.