This week an action taken by the Lake County Board of Supervisors on February 7th to extend the Lake County Tourism Improvement District (LCTID) for another ten years became effective. The LCTID does business as Visit Lake County, CA, and is now authorized to continue operating until December 31, 2033.
Consent hearings were held in January with both the Lakeport City Council and the Clearlake City Council. Both councils unanimously approved resolutions supporting the extension.
The new management district plan increases the room night assessment from 1.5% to 2.5% beginning in January 2024. “We are excited about the future of tourism marketing in Lake County,” said Lynne Butcher, Owner of The Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon and current Treasure of the LCTID. “We clearly saw that the current 1.5% assessment did not fully fund the district. We are confident the new plan will continue to give us the resources needed to increase visitors to Lake County.”
Since its founding in 2018, Visit Lake County CA has increased visitor-interested website traffic from 6,000 unique users viewing accommodation pages to over 86,000 in the current year. Social media platforms under the guidance of Visit Lake County CA have exploded from just under 16,000 Facebook followers in 2018 to over 34,000 in the current year. Additionally, Visit Lake County CA hosted travel reporters from The San Francisco Chronicle, Lonely Planet, 7X7 Bay Area, and several social media influencers.
“Tourism in Lake County is a vital industry,” said Brian Fisher, Executive Director of Visit Lake County CA, “for every $1 a visitor spends in accommodations, they spend an additional $3 in other county businesses.” Lodging revenue has increased every year since the establishment of Visit Lake County CA.
“We are excited about new accommodations coming online in 2023,” said Fisher, “Huttopia, a glamping resort at Six Sigma Ranch, will have over 60 tents ready by this summer. It is a great product targeting a growing demographic for Lake County.”
Lake County also has a little more than 300 short-term rental properties available for visitors. Anyone renting a home, cabin, room or tent is required to obtain an Accommodation Permit from the County or City they are renting in and pay the required taxes and assessments. “We are seeing greater compliance of short-term rental operators in meeting their tax and assessment requirements,” said County Treasurer, Patrick Sullivan. “These funds are vital to the future of tourism in Lake County.”
Lake County Tourism Improvement District meets quarterly and operates the trade website, www.discoveryourlake.com. You can find the new Management District Plan at this website.
