OKLAHOMA: The New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority will spend $500,000 more this fiscal year to promote local tourism. At a meeting Wednesday at the TDA’s headquarters, the board approved its 2015-16 budget of $4,548,288, up 13.3 percent from 2014-15’s budget of $4,014,949.
The budget goes into effect July 1 and covers the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016.The larger budget estimates revenues from the county’s hotel room occupancy tax will increase this year; the TDA is funded in part by the county’s 6 percent tax, which also pays for beach nourishment efforts. Last year’s budget included about $3.6 million in tax receipts while this year’s anticipates just over $4 million going toward TDA efforts.
The budget will be used to develop the organization’s 2015-16 marketing plan, to be unveiled in September. This past year’s plan included partnering with the city and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce on a mobile app network to promote local attractions, a billboard campaign in Charlotte and the Triad, and a new series of promotional materials for the area using the slogan, “See where the water takes you.”
