PROVIDENCE – Collection of the 5 percent hotel tax in Rhode Island in November totaled $1.1 million, a 10.4 percent decline from $1.3 million one year prior, according to the R.I. Department of Revenue Tuesday.
The tax is collected and then allocated to one of four buckets and subsequently passed along by a predetermined percentage: regional tourism districts, municipalities, the R.I. Commerce Corp., and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau.
- Allocation to regional tourism districts in November totaled $406,441, a 4.8 percent decline year to year. The largest allocation to a tourism district was to Aquidneck Island at $135,126, followed by the Convention Authority of Providence at $134,430.
- Allocation to municipalities for the month of the 5 percent hotel tax was $262,816, a 10 percent decline from one year prior.
- Allocation to the R.I. Commerce Corp. from the tax in November was $297,024, a 22.8 percent decline year over year.
- Meanwhile, allocation to the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau increased 3.6 percent to $170,242 in November.
It is important to note that the set percentage of allocations of the tax were changed from November 2017 to November 2018.
A total of $1.1 million of the tax collection was from traditional hotels in the state for November, a decline from $1.2 million the year prior. Hosting platforms and room resellers accounted for $19,123 of the tax for the month, a decline from $29,513 the year before.
The city that accounted for the largest collection of the 5 percent hotel tax for the month was Providence at $90,710.
Fiscal year to date, collection of the 5 percent hotel tax through November totaled $11.9 million, a 1.1 percent decline from the $12 million collected fiscal year to date through November 2017.
