Summer is vacation time. Families explore new places, enjoy local culture and learn something new. Communities throughout America have local visitor centers that help their cities attract tourists. Visit Longmont provides tourists “with the very best information about the wealth of activities in and around the city,” according to its website.
COVID-19 restrictions, although loosening, have limited tourism in Longmont. Funding for Visit Longmont primarily depends on “revenues from hotel and occupancy tax receipts,” Eric Kean, president of the Visit Longmont board and executive director of Left Hand Brewing Foundation, said in an email.
In Longmont there is a 2% lodging tax added to each hotel stay. The tax is paid to the city of Longmont, which then funds a portion of the Visit Longmont budget with the tax. The reduction of vacationers and business visitors due to travel and coronavirus restrictions has caused hotel occupancy to drop in Longmont said Mikayla Adair, marketing and communications coordinator for Visit Longmont. "It has caused a dramatic impact" on Visit Longmont's revenue, she said.
Compared to April and May in 2019, this year there has been a nearly 40% decrease in hotel occupancy across Longmont, Adair said.
Similar declines are being seen across the U.S. according to ustravel.org, which stated “the continual depressed level of travel spending has caused a loss of $33.6 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue since March 1.”
As a result of declining revenues, Visit Longmont on June 15 announced that the “Visit Longmont Board made the difficult decision to release Executive Director Nancy Rezac from her position at Visit Longmont due to financial concerns associated with COVID-19,” Kean said.
No formal announcement was made and Rezac’s name still appears on the website. The only public recognition of Rezac’s release was provided as a reply to emails sent to her Visit Longmont address: “I have been released by the Board from Visit Longmont, effective June 15, 2020, relative to financial concerns associated with COVID-19.”
While the impacts of the coronavirus are deeply felt at Visit Longmont, the organization has spent the past few months “adjusting marketing plans, staffing and budgets for long-term success of the organization and to ensure Longmont maintains its position as a premier Colorado destination,” Kean said.
Adair said that Visit Longmont is relying on their online presence right now to keep people posted on local restriction and promoting local road trips.
The nonprofit will continue to fulfill its mission by dividing the work previously done by Rezac among remaining staff and board members through the remainder of the year, Kean said. At that point, the board will reevaluate the position.
“Visit Longmont thanks Mrs. Rezac for her many years of dedicated service and impact made to tourism in our community, and wishes her the best in her future endeavors,” Kean said in his email.
