‘Fear In The Room’ As County Plans Tourism Overhaul

Arcata Chamber of Commerce Directror Meredith Maier

Humboldt County is planning a “big shift” in the way it funds tourism marketing and local chamber of commerce groups are concerned about their sustainability.

A five-year plan to dramatically change the county’s tourism strategy was presented to the Board of Supervisors at its April 28 meeting.

If followed, the plan will centralize tourism marketing services under a “new governance model” led by the county, with chambers of commerce and other groups competing for funding through an application process.

In the plan’s first year, shares of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), the hotel bed fees paid by lodgers, would continue to be allocated to chamber of commerce groups and other local organizations.

Bridget Baeth of JayRay, the consulting firm hired to develop the plan, said a “big shift” would happen in the second year, when a Destination Stewardship Organization (DSO) would begin “contracted implementation” of the plan.

The DSO would get about half the hotel bed tax funding and the county would get 10 to 15 percent of it.

Money from a Tourism Region Fund making up 20 to 25 percent of the funding would go to local groups.

But the funding process would be competitive, with a Tourism Advisory Board making recommendations to supervisors for final approvals.

The change is being eyed with caution.

“I’ve got some concerns about how that might work out because I’d love to see all the chambers, all of our regions, continue to get support at some level, not just those that can compete really well,” said Supervisor Steve Madrone. “And we talk a lot in this plan about the how money would be divvied up on ability to act, ability to create real action, actionable stuff that’s accountable where we can actually go, ‘well, we gave this much money and it created these things’ — I see that as super complicated.”

Meredith Matthews, executive director of the Humboldt Lodging Alliance, a tourism support group funded through fees paid by hotel owners, was a member of a committee advising the plan.

“I think that this strategy is an important step towards addressing some of the challenges stakeholders had around coordination, funding clarity and accountability in Humboldt County’s tourism efforts,” she said.

But she added, “as a former chamber executive director, I do understand that this shift, particularly towards a more competitive performance-based funding model, may create some uncertainty for gateway cities and long-standing partners and these concerns are valid.”

Saying she “wants to address the elephant in the room,” Arcata Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Meredith Maier said the plan could result in “the defunding of some long-term tourism partners in our community” and “so there is a lot of fear in the room.”

Laura Lasseter, executive director of the Southern Humboldt Business and Visitors Bureau, highlighted her group’s tourism marketing work.

“This is what the county’s investment has created and like any investment, the value is in its continuation,” she said. “If we disrupt that now, we don’t just pause progress, we risk eroding the return on years of work, relationships, and positioning that are already in motion.”

Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Yvonne Hendrix said efforts to coordinate marketing “should complement, not replace, on-the-ground visitor engagement, the most direct way to understand visitor behavior and drive real economic impact.”

Jesse Miles, executive director of the McKinleyville Chamber of Commerce, said McKinleyville “does the work of a city-sized gateway community without being an incorporated city” and “continued county support through collaboration, partnerships and funding is essential for our work to continue and to expand.”

The contrast between the county’s current marketing structure and the plan’s centralized approach was alluded to by Supervisor Rex Bohn.

“I don’t mean offense to anybody but when I come back in my next life, I want to be executive director of all the executive directors in Humboldt,” he said. “It’s got to be good because boy, there’s a hell of a lot of you.”

Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said the plan set forth a cohesive approach to marketing and “recognizes that we’ve got to bring it together and now the hard work of how to do that is really in the next step.”

Board Chair Mike Wilson noted “disparity” in amounts of funding the local groups get, with the Garberville Chamber of Commerce and Southern Humboldt Visitors Bureau getting $130,000 and $71,000 respectively.

The Orick and Willow Creek chambers get $34,000 each and the Arcata and McKinleyville chambers get $28,000 and $25,000 respectively.

“I’m just trying to get some fairness here,” Wilson said. “I know no one said it here in this room but I have heard it over and over again and I finally got to lay it out on the table.”

Peggy Murphy, the county’s economic development director, strongly advised against “making disruptive moves to current funding” and encouraged “a collaborative, supportive and respectful process as we move forward through this five-year strategy.”

Supervisor Michelle Bushnell nodded to “the nervousness in the room” but said the need for future approvals “makes me feel a lot better.”

Her motion to “accept and adopt” the five-year plan while continuing current funding through the next fiscal year, as recommended by staff, was unanimously approved.