ATLANTA — Georgia’s tourism industry grew 6.7 percent last year reaching a record $57 billion impact, according to a report released Monday by the state just hours before Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law a new tax on it.
The bill Deal signed adds a tax of $5 per night for hotel and motel rooms with the money to go toward repairing roads and bridges.
It will drain away $200 million in business just in the lodging industry, according to a study issued last week by economists at PKF Hospitality Research. The percentage of lost business is likely to be greater outside of Atlanta where prevailing room rates are lower, making the new charge a bigger percentage of the total bill, the study found.
Savannah-area hoteliers are worried they’ll lose out when competing for conventions against other cities because of the added cost.
But the governor dismissed the concerns when asked about it by a reporter following the signing of the road-tax legislation.
“If you look at it, I don’t think that the additional $5 is going to affect tourism,” he said. “If it is, it’s a minimal effect.”
The report by the U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics was distributed by the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Division to kick off National Travel and Tourism Week. It shows money spent on food, lodging, attractions and souvenirs pumped $3 billion into state and local tax coffers.
It also estimates that demand for Georgia destinations is now 24 percent higher than in 2007 before the recession and is responsible for about 425,000 jobs.
“As domestic and international visitors continue to discover all that Georgia has to offer, the industry is adding jobs and capital investment to meet the growing demand,” said Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner for tourism.
Deal offered a solution for community leaders in Savannah and other parts of the state worried about the impact of the new hotel tax. He suggested they look at local hotel tax.
“If they think that $5 fee is unduly affecting the visitation, they have the ability to adjust their local hotel/motel tax to try and offset it,” he said.
