agement and David Audin, chairman of ConvExx have proposed a funding mechanism to replace the bed tax for the hospitality industry. These industry professionals argue that the hotel occupancy tax which has been used as the primary funding mechanism for convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) for 50 years is now flawed, obsolete and regressive. What is recommended by these individuals is the replacement of the hotel occupancy tax with a lower and broader tax (Mather, 2002).
This new tax would consist of a hospitality tax to be spread across the entire spectrum of a city's hospitality community. This would include hotels, taxi cabs, limousine services, movie and live theaters, restaurants, theme parks, sporting events and attractions - all businesses that directly benefit from visitor spending (Mather, 2002). The groups and individuals proposing this new tax suggest that it would more equitably spread out the cost of visiting a city for either business or recreational purposes and thereby render the city more
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