Last summer, with the expectation that voters would approve a $25 million bond issue to help build the Heritage Harbor Museum along Providence’s waterfront, the legislature, over protests from some quarters, approved a 1 percent increase in the hotel room tax to help pay for the bond, and to a lesser degree to support WaterFire.
Surprise! When the voters in November turned down the museum bond issue, the 1 percent increase in room tax didn’t go away. And while the state House of Representatives was quick to vote in January to roll back the tax, the Senate has been far more cautious. In fact, there are some rumblings that some senators prefer to leave the tax as it is – the highest in New England (13 percent – 6 percent room tax, 7 percent sales tax), according to the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, and Johnson & Wales hospitality professor Dr. John W. O’Neill.
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We opposed the 1 percent increase last summer, and we strongly believe it needs to be rolled back now. We are already among the most expensive places in the nation to vacation (AAA study last summer), and the highest hotel room tax in the region does not make this an attractive destination, particularly for large groups of conventioneers looking to save whatever costs they can.
That basically is the argument of the Tourism Association and Professor O’Neill, and we buy it.
Not only should the Senate agree to a rollback, but it also should consider diverting more of the money collected for room-tax back into tourism promotion. O’Neill suggests we spend far less than other communities promoting our state.
If tourism is to remain among our most significant industries — and tourism officials say it is our largest — then we need to do whatever we can to continue to be competitive in both our costs, and marketing.
