MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Muskegon County's 5% hotel room tax is considered an economic indicator, with the revenue collected annually by the tax offering a snapshot of how well the tourism sector performed during the previous year.
Funds collected from the tax funds marketing efforts at the Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The accommodation tax was increasing year-over-year for the last six years—then COVID-19 brought the growth streak to an end.
For fiscal year 2019 the tax collected $1,190,856 and dropped to $913,531 in fiscal year 2020.
With the books now closed on fiscal year 2021, Muskegon County community development director Bob Lukens was surprised the accommodations tax not only returned to pre-pandemic levels, but also set a new record collecting $1,253,709.
"We had visitors from the surrounding states," Lukens said. "I think it was the weather and people were confident to drive to their destinations last summer. We had a very busy summer, and a number of events did go on."
The tax is the CVB's biggest tool to attract visitors to Muskegon County. Lukens says the CVB continues to print around 50,000 visitors guides which are distributed to rest stops and travel centers all around the state and neighboring states. In recent years, more and more of the CVB's marketing budget is spent on digital and social media advertising.
"Our job is to bring people to the area," Lukens said.
If Lukens is to make a guess, he doesn't believe the new collections record will stand very long. The summer of 2022 is expect to include a return of all the major events and festivals that Muskegon has become known for, including Parties in the Park, the Michigan Irish Music Festival and Unity Christian Music Festival.
"We have some of the greatest attractions here and I think we'll see exceptional numbers this year," Lukens said. "The larger festivals at Heritage Landing bring in anywhere between 30,000 and 80,000 people."
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