The Woodlands Edition | February 2024

From the cover

Township initiatives target restaurant growth

The background

Breaking it down

Two-minute impact

Hotel occupancy tax collections in 2023 were higher in summer months when major events occurred, including the Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas triathlon, Insperity Invitational golf tournament and Chevron Golf Champi- onship, according to information from the township. The proposed new dining initiatives would aim to increase HOT collection in other months of the year such as January through March and September, when HOT collections are histori- cally lower. Township ocials said increasing collections from tourism-based methods such as HOT and sales tax collections allows the township to reduce the property tax rate required to balance the yearly budget.

The eort to spotlight dining in The Wood- lands in 2024 follows the implementation of House Bill 5311 in May 2023, which allowed the township to collect mixed-beverage taxes. As of May, the township now collects 10.7% of mixed-beverage sales tax that previously went directly to the state. In the 2023 annual nancial report presented to the township board Jan. 24, the rst month of collections from mixed-beverage sales was $117,608, 25% greater than expected, township Chief Financial Ocer Kellan Shaw said. According to township projections, the mixed-beverage tax collection is set to generate an additional $1.23 million in revenue in 2024, which will be used to fund tourism and market- ing initiatives such as Dining The Woodlands.

Elizabeth Eddins, executive director of the CVB and Visit The Woodlands, presented a plan to highlight restaurants within The Woodlands to the CVB board Jan. 18. The project was granted $25,000 by the board to begin researching the best methods for bringing more attention to restaurants and encourage visitors to spend multiple days in The Woodlands. She said projects such as dining trails, which create routes for residents to try various meals from restaurants, are part of the concept. The funding approved during the meeting will go toward establishing a time frame and scale for the main projects, which will then be brought before the CVB for approval. The working name for the new project is Dining The Woodlands. “Dining The Woodlands will really help to elevate and to create The Woodlands, Texas, as a premier destination for ne dining in Texas nationally and internationally,” Eddins said.

The Woodlands 2024 mixed-beverage tax collection projection

Hotel occupancy tax collections in 2023

Projected collections

Actual collections

Budgeted collections

Actual collections

$130,000

$1 million

Planned initiatives

$120,000

$800,000

A new dining-focused festival along the waterway A summer 2024 international cultural cuisine exchange Tracking restaurant trac from dining trails Establishing inuencer-focused media events at locally owned restaurants

$110,000

$600,000

$100,000

$400,000

$90,000

$200,000

$80,000

SOURCE: VISIT THE WOODLANDSCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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