Anaheim Area's Tourism Improvement District

Many of you may be aware that the AOCVCB is pursuing a new future funding source in the form of a Tourism Improvement District (TID). We are currently in the early stages of this process, and I wanted to update our members on what this funding initiative involves and why it is important to our organization's future.

For your information many of Orange County cities, including Irvine, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, have recently passed TID's. Additionally, Anaheim's major competitors, San Francisco and San Diego, have a TID and Los Angeles is working diligently to pass their own TID in the near future.

Tourism Improvement District's are the way of the future for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO's). When constructed correctly they provide for a seamless transition from public to private funding. In the case of Anaheim, the heretofore dedicated Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) funds will be repurposed for future Convention Center expansion. The other obvious advantage of shifting to a TID funding program is removing the Bureau's dependency on local government and the uncertainty that accompanies it during these unsure economic times.

The Bureau and its partners have been working for over a year on the TID. It began with forwarding the idea to the Board of Directors and in December 2008 engaging an expert in TID development. A Task Force is now hard at work and sub-committees representing Anaheim and Garden Grove hotels have had several meetings on this issue. Because two cities are involved, two separate TID's will need to be constructed.

City Managers and City Attorneys from Anaheim and Garden Grove have been introduced to the plan. All of the work accomplished thus far, plus future development, will culminate in two separate TID votes involving hotel owners or representatives. This will ultimately decide if the TID is to become a reality for the AOCVCB. We expect the vote to take place in early 2010.

Should you want to learn more about the TID process, please contact Charles Ahlers, President, AOCVCB, at 714.765.8840.

TID UPDATE (As of January 25, 2010)