With only weeks to work a miracle, Willoughby enlisted the help of the travel and tourism community to preserve funding for all three of Delaware’s state-funded CVBs. Courier connected with Willoughby to get the whole story.
Courier: How did your funding nightmare begin?
Willoughby: In Delaware there are three counties, and each has a tourism bureau. We are funded with one-eighth of an 8 percent public accommodation (lodging) tax. On May 30, I received a text from our lobbyist, telling me that our funding had been eliminated. No questions, no discussions—just eliminated as part of a move to shore up the state budget. There was not even an opportunity for us to testify before the Joint Finance Committee.
Courier: What would a loss of tax dollars mean to Wilmington—and to other Delaware communities?
Willoughby: The one percentage point from the accommodation tax represents 92 percent of our funding. If you eliminate funding for these CVBs, you will eliminate all of the marketing—plus all the destination knowledge—in each county. The offices in the three counties help bring in over $4 billion a year in visitor spending, with more than $2 billion of that spent here in Wilmington and New Castle County.
You would also lose the targeted destination marketing we provide for our attractions, hotels and restaurants. Our county gets 2.7 million visitors a year, and many businesses and their employees depend on us for the marketing we do. For tour operators, it would mean that the personal touch and special attention they receive would no longer be there. We heard this loud and clear from the many tour operators who wrote letters of support for us.
Courier: What would the cuts mean to you and your staff?
Willoughby: The hardest part for me was having my staff experience this, but they wanted to be a part of the solution. The GWCVB has eight full-time and three part-time employees. I’ve been here for 13 years, and one member of our staff has been here for 20 years. We all would have lost our jobs within six months.
I worked through various scenarios and considered rent options and other ways we could reduce spending so that we could strategically use our reserves and remaining funds. It would be very difficult, though, to continue to operate and follow our mission as a destination marketing organization without our allocation of the public accommodations tax.
Courier: What steps did you take to salvage funding, and who helped you?
Willoughby: The three CVBs engaged our members and partners: We sent emails, made phone calls and scheduled one-on-one meetings. My peers and I went to Dover every day from May 30 to June 30.
The one amazing, feel-good thing through all this was how our members, partners and industry friends rallied. Within Delaware, we were supported by many chambers of commerce, big and small businesses, the Delaware Hotel Lodging Association and the Delaware Restaurant Association. The governor was very supportive, as were our county executive and the mayor of Wilmington.
NTA and ABA were right there when we asked for support, and AAA came out very strong for us, too. Tour operators, meeting planners and travel writers all stepped up and described the need for the CVBs, explaining that tourism business would go elsewhere.
From the copies of letters and emails I received, I can say with confidence that more than 500 letters of support were sent.
Courier: What was the resolution?
Willoughby: The state budget was to be balanced on June 30, but it took until July 3. In the early hours of that Monday, one move led to another, and then my phone lit up. I got word that our allocation of the public accommodations tax was restored 100 percent. It felt great, but it wasn’t a total celebration. Those in our nonprofit community, which comprise many of our members, received a 20 percent cut. And the scariest part of it all is that nothing was fixed in the budget.
Courier: What lessons can you offer other DMOs?
Willoughby: We are so thankful that we have a lobbyist! We heard many times from legislators and others in the process that our offices are included in legislation for a reason, and we should make sure we explain our role in economic development.
So I would tell any DMO colleague to communicate with legislators to describe what you are doing. We have always sent legislators our annual visitor guide, but now we are sending them our monthly consumer e-newsletter—with a tracking report of opens and clicks. We’re also inviting state legislators to more of our events. And very important: We are getting to know more legislative aides.
The biggest take-away is that I never want to be back in this situation again; it’s the worst House-of-Cards feeling. But in reality, we very well could be back on the chopping block again.
Sarah Willoughby, CTP, is executive director of the Greater Wilmington CVB. For information about visiting the area, contact Jennifer Arrigo, the bureau’s tourism sales manager.
Top photo by Scott Ciancio/Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau
