PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island 5 percent hotel tax revenue was $776,424 in December 2016, a 7.2 percent year-over-year increase, the R.I. Department of Revenue said in a report on Tuesday.
Thanks to a change in the allocation of hotel tax revenue, the state’s regional tourism districts saw a 20.4 percent increase in their share of the tax revenue, to a total of $305,941 for the month. The top three recipients of the regional tourism districts share of increased revenue were Aquidneck Island, the Convention Authority of Providence and South County, with receipt of $122,006, $71,149 and $45,274, respectively.
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Host municipalities saw a 7.4 percent increase in tax revenue to $180,712, while the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau experienced a 5 percent increase to $105,183. The R.I. Commerce Corp. received 10.8 percent less from the tax for a total of $184,588 in December. Tax revenue from room re-sellers and room rentals via hosting platforms, and online travel companies, such as AirBnB, increased 37.8 percent year over year in December, yielding a total of $4,058.
The monthly growth in December was consistent with the growth the DOR reported for November, both showing a 7.2 percent increase in revenue.
Fiscal year-to-date collections experienced a 3.3 percent increase, according to the DOR, with $11.9 million being collected at hotels from July through December. For this time period, Commerce RI experienced the largest year-over-year increase, 8.4 percent, with revenue totaling $2.7 million.
Regional tourism districts received a 3.8 percent increase in tax revenue, for a total of $4.9 million in the period. Municipalities saw a 4 percent increase, for a total of $2.8 million, while the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau had the smallest gain, 3.1 percent, leaving it a total of $1.4 million in the six-month period. For the six-month period, room re-sellers and room rentals via hosting platforms, and online travel companies saw a 16.3 percent decline, for a total of $131,533 in tax revenue.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
