Carbon Corridor Tourism Specialist Tina Grange spoke at the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday, March 21.
To begin her presentation, Grange explained that she wanted to inform the community on what tourism is and how that money is spent.
Last year, Carbon County visitors made up 28% of the in-county food sales. The taxes on those sales brought in a total of $348,000 last year. With that money, 47% of that total went into funding the Carbon County Events and Recreation Center (CERCUT) including North Springs Shooting Range. That funding also contributes to the Carbon County Fair and the various sports the CERCUT facilitates. The remaining amount, 53%, was allocated to funding way-finding, kiosks, trail maintenance, public arts and tourism outreach.
Carbon County’s tourism department gathers their funding from the transient room tax (TRT). This tax is paid for by guests in Carbon County who stay in hotels, motels, RV Parks or paid camping sites. Once the entities pay their taxes, Carbon County receives 4.25% of those taxes. This funding does not go into the general budget and is managed by the tourism specialist and director, as well as the tax advisory board.
It is required by the state that 53% of the TRT that is collected goes toward acquiring and operating facilities and mitigation of minimizing the degree of harm to our area by over-tourism. The 47% is allocated towards establishing, promoting tourism, recreation, film projection and conventions.
Another tax that is gathered for the tourism department is the tourism recreation culture and convention tax (TRCC), also known as restaurant tax, which is tax not to exceed 4% on all short-term rentals of motor-vehicles, 7% on short-term rentals of off highway vehicles and 1% of all sales of alcoholic beverages, prepared foods etc.
“Tourism can also promote culture exchange to provide opportunities for travelers to learn about our local culture and traditions,” shared Grange. “I think with connecting the tourists with our community, they learn more about us and in return, our hope is they will respect our area more.”
Carbon Corridor’s focus for 2024 is to assist travelers to connect with the community. Concluding the presentation, Grange announced the tourism department is excited to host the Stewardship Preservation and Xploration in the corridor once again. That event will be launching on June 1. Another exciting return will be the Scofield Jeep Tour that is scheduled for September 26-27.
For more information on tourism in Carbon County, please visit www.carbon.utah.gov/explore-the-corridor/.