County tourism funding overhaul raises concern among local recipients

Humboldt County’s proposed tourism funding overhaul would shift who controls visitor dollars, and the biggest anxiety is not abstract. The county says travel-related spending reached about $479 million in 2023 and supported roughly 5,600 local hospitality jobs, so any change in bed-tax spending could ripple through Arcata, Eureka, Southern Humboldt and other gateway areas that depend on event traffic, lodging nights and visitor marketing.

The Board of Supervisors heard the countywide strategy on April 28 under agenda item 26-244, a package titled “Humboldt County Marketing Asset Inventory Analysis and Countywide Travel and Tourism Marketing Strategy and Transient Occupancy Tax Fiscal Year 2026-27 Funding Recommendations.” County staff recommended that supervisors receive the presentation, adopt the countywide strategy and approve FY 2026-27 transient occupancy tax allocations at the same level as FY 2025-26, with adjustments described in the staff report.

The planning effort dates to June 10, 2024, when the board allocated funding for a marketing asset inventory and countywide strategic marketing framework. The county issued a request for proposals on December 18, 2024, received six proposals by the January 22, 2025 deadline and later approved JayRay Ads & PR on June 13, 2025, for $49,460 to develop the strategy. County staff said the work included two in-person site visits, 15 partner interviews, surveys of businesses, visitors and residents and a workshop with more than 45 participants.

The draft plan lays out a five-year phased roadmap built around a Destination Stewardship Organization, a Tourism Region Funding Model and performance measurement for both the DSO and the regions. In the first year, existing TOT allocations would continue flowing to chambers of commerce and other local organizations. In the second year, however, a new DSO would take over contracted implementation and receive about half of the hotel-bed-tax funding, the county would take 10% to 15%, a separate Tourism Region Fund would get another 20% to 25%, and the rest would be distributed through a competitive application process overseen by a Tourism Advisory Board.

That shift is what has local recipients on edge. Meredith Matthews of the Humboldt Lodging Alliance said the model could answer longstanding concerns about coordination and clarity, but she also said the move toward a competitive, performance-based system could create uncertainty for gateway cities and long-standing partners. Supervisor Steve Madrone said he was concerned that groups that do not compete well could lose support. Arcata Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Meredith Maier said the room was full of fear because the plan could defund long-term community partners. Southern Humboldt Business and Visitors Bureau director Laura Lasseter said the county’s investment in tourism marketing has already created value and should not be disrupted.

The county says the strategy responds to changes in TOT allocations and evolving tourism marketing approaches. In unincorporated Humboldt County, transient occupancies are taxed at 12%, and operators must register, obtain permits and business licenses and remit the tax quarterly. With tourism money already tied to hotels, short-term rentals and visitor spending, the fight now centers on who gets to direct that money, and whether Humboldt County’s next marketing system will strengthen the local economy or redistribute it away from the organizations that built it.