Hard work ahead for Davis tourism

LAYTON — Davis County could see more tourism-related revenue in 2010 than in 2009.

After seeing a year with lower hotel occupancy, tourism revenue and theme-park visitors, the group charged with marketing Davis County to the world unveiled some of its goals Friday during a breakfast meeting in Layton.

The Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau is funded through special tourism tax revenue collected through restaurants, hotels and vehicle rentals.

In 2010, Davis County has contracted with the bureau for $811,000 to generate tax revenue by attracting tourism, meetings and conventions to the county's hotels, the Davis Conference Center, Antelope Island and area ski resorts.

In 2009, the bureau was responsible for bringing 65 groups to Davis County for a total of 17,789 room nights and an economic impact of $5.6 million.

This year, the bureau wants to fill 18,500 room nights, said Barbara Riddle, the bureau's president and chief executive officer.

Hotel occupancies were at 63.3 percent, which was a 6.2 percent decrease from 2008 but still ahead of the statewide rate of 58.2 percent, Riddle said.

Even with a general decline, Davis County still led the state in hotel occupancy during four months of the year, she said.

"Heads in beds," is one of the Davis bureau's mantras.

Riddle said the bureau will also work with the Utah Office of Tourism, the Utah Film Commission and other tourism groups to bring people to Davis County.

The bureau also plans to make a lot of cold calls. It made more than 2,400 in 2009.

All of those efforts are to get people to stay in hotels, spend money in restaurants and go shopping, which generates tax revenue for the county and its cities.

It's also a benefit to get Davis County residents to spend money at home so that tax dollars stay in the county, Riddle said.

She touted some of the events Davis County offers: the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival, Antelope Island Balloon and Kite Stampede and the annual bison roundup at Antelope Island, not to mention Davis County's top tourism attraction, Lagoon, which attracted 1.2 million visitors in 2009.

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