Hotel/motel tax collections up in 2023; tourism director says 2024 is looking good

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Margaret Thigpen, director of tourism for the Dalton Convention Center and the Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), said it’s hard to say it but COVID-19 turned out to be good for the convention center and local tourism.

“You don’t want to talk about COVID as a positive,” she said. “But we did not shut down completely, the community didn’t. We remained open. We had groups that came to us while other places were closed, and they have stayed with us. We’ve pulled groups in from Chattanooga, from Atlanta, from Rome. We continue to be a draw.”

By several measures, the CVB and the convention center had their most successful year in history in 2023.

Dalton collected $2.022 million in hotel/motel taxes, up from $1.828 million in 2022.

“Our hotel/motel taxes go mainly to the city of Dalton,” Thigpen said. “But the hotels also generate LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) revenues and some of those also go to the county and the other cities.”

The LOST is a 1% tax on most goods sold in the county that can pay for government operations.

Data provided by Thigpen showed that in 2023 hotels generated $174,698 in LOST funds for Whitfield County, up from $157,895 in 2022; $104,027 in LOST funds for Dalton, up from $94,021; $2,081 for Cohutta, up from $1,880; $2,684 for Varnell, up from $2,426; and $5,473 for Varnell, up from $4,947.

The CVB and the convention center brought in 46 new groups in 2023, up from 35 in 2022. They brought in 61 groups who stayed in local hotels, compared to 41 in 2022.

Some of those groups included the International Union of Painters and Allied Trade, the Red Carpet Pickleball Tournament and the Key Club Division 1 meeting.

“The people that we are bringing in are mainly coming for the events and the tournaments,” Thigpen said.

But she added that Dalton has become a destination for people who aren’t necessarily coming to those events.

“We are seeing travelers coming from the north to Florida and back,” she said. “We have established Dalton as an easy stopover. Many of these travelers have established relationships with our local hoteliers, and we see them coming back year-after-year. We’ve also got a substantial corporate business (from people coming in for business with local companies).”

Thigpen said 2024 has already gotten off to a good start with events such as the Chickamauga Civil War Show and a Hispanic truck show and concert. Upcoming events at the convention center this year include an antique bottle and advertising show, the Victory cheer and dance competition, the National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet, the Georgia Numismatic Coin Show and the AAU gymnastics Southern regional championship tournament.

Thigpen notes that the CVB doesn’t just market the convention center.

“We market the entire county,” she said.

That includes the national softball tournaments that have called local fields home for many years.

Now that the area has four FIFA-sized fields with a fifth on the way, could Dalton start attracting major soccer tournaments?

“We go to different trade shows to talk to tournament directors and meeting planners,” she said. “Soccer has always been a weak link because we haven’t had what they are looking for. Now that we have the FIFA-sized fields, the conversation has started up. But many of the tournament directors want six fields, at least, in the same location. We have fields now, but they are scattered about the community. But we are having conversations with tournament directors.”