Municipal Accommodation Tax to promote North Bay

Tourists coming to North Bay will have to reach down a little deeper to pay for their share of a newly approved Municipal Accommodation Tax.

City council voted in favour of the tax by-law which will go into effect in February.

Revenues generated from the tax will be split 60/40 between Tourism North Bay and the city, with Tourism North Bay getting the lions share.

Councillor Mike Anthony stressed that this isn’t a tax local people would pay unless they stay in a hotel for the night.

“This means that when folks are stopping in at one of our hotels, a four per cent tax is now going to be levied. This is new funds that can be used for tourism initiatives, and then for the city side of things, we can use it on things that assist, or promote, or help tourism,” said Anthony.

With additional funding available to promote the city, the end result could lead to more heads in beds.  

“Which means you could see occupancy go up from the 52 per cent that we have right now, to more like 70 plus per cent.

Councillor Dave Mendicino says the municipal accommodation tax is a long time coming, calling it good news for the city.

“It is going to go a long way to providing funds to promote tourism in the city. It is tourism generally, and more specifically, sports tourism. The funds will be needed to provide money to bid for events. There is a shortage of funds right now to bid for events. We’re missing out on a lot of events that we could be getting that we qualify for, but we just don’t have the funds. It will also allow the city to use the money towards infrastructure initiatives that will promote tourism as well.”

Steve Dreany, Director for Tourism North Bay says the funds are important for marketing the city.  

“With the four per cent tax on all the accommodations, that is going to provide sustainable funding for Tourism North Bay. That will allow us to have a well thought out, orchestrated marketing plan for the community, enabling us to go to different trade shows, publications marketing North Bay, getting people to come in and stay at the hotels. We’re estimating the portion going towards Tourism North Bay in the first year will be about $400,000,” said Dreany.

The tax isn’t a concept unique to North Bay.

“It is going on everywhere. I believe the last count a little while ago, there were 18 municipalities across the province that have initiated the tax. Now because we have the tax coming in, other municipalities are starting to ask us questions about implementing a tax. Smaller communities across the region are looking at it and considering it.”