Visitors to North Bay will soon pay a tax to stay in one of the city’s hotel rooms.
City Council has voted unanimously to adopt a four per cent tax on visitors staying in hotels in North Bay, beginning in 2019.
Councillor Mike Anthony was enthusiastic about the tax on visitors to North Bay. The accommodation tax has been adopted in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Sturgeon Falls and nearly 20 other markets in Ontario.
Tourism North Bay says locally, a drop in hotel stays of 4.6 per cent from 2017 to 2018 was registered.
The take will be split 60/40, with the larger share going to Tourism North Bay for the marketing of the city as a destination, and the remainder to the City of North Bay.
The 4 per cent levy will be collected by the hotel operators and will amount to somewhere between $4 and $5 per branded hotel room.
Director of Tourism North Bay Steve Dreany has said the approval of the Municipal Accommodation Tax “is incredibly important to our organization and the community.”
