Seminole hotels soon to charge fee to raise funds for $65M indoor sports venue
Seminole County hotels will soon start tacking on an extra fee to a guest’s bill to help raise tens of millions of dollars for the county to build a complex for indoor sports and other large events.
With little discussion, county commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved the extra $1.75 per night assessment starting March 11 for lodging establishments with at least 60 rooms. It will be added to a hotel room bill on top of the county’s 5% tourist tax — also known as a bed tax — and 7% sales tax.
The fee is expected to raise about $3.2 million in the first year and more each year afterward. Revenue will be used to construct a long-planned facility at a cost upward of $65 million adjacent to Boombah Sports Complex off Lake Mary Boulevard.
The fee is part of the county’s newly formed tourism improvement district created at the meeting. Fee revenue and implementation would be overseen by its seven-member advisory board.
Commissioners and county officials said the district ensures tourists pay for new infrastructure rather than residents.
“This is a unique and creative model,” Commissioner Lee Constantine said before voting in favor of the assessment and forming the district.
Supporters of the indoor complex point to how over the last decade Seminole has attracted scores of athletic tournaments that bring in thousands of players, coaches, families and fans from around the nation to its outdoor facilities — including Boombah. Those visitors spend money at county hotels, restaurants and shops.
Since opening in 2016, Boombah, for example, has hosted more than 500 events and brought in tens of millions of dollars to the county annually from visitors. A recent county survey showed 42% of Seminole’s hotel guests come for events at Boombah.
Last year, Seminole’s sports complexes hosted 89 events drawing nearly 186,000 visitors who purchased nearly 30,000 hotel room nights, according to county data. County documents show that an indoor events complex would generate an additional 17,000 hotel room stays in its first year.
“To remain competitive, we must continue to invest in our sports tourism infrastructure,” Robert Agrusa, president of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, said at Tuesday’s Seminole commission meeting.
And it’s not just the county that sees the economic value in sports tourism.
Ocoee leaders recently decided to move forward with a $1 billion modern youth sports complex in hopes of luring young athletes, their families, coaches and fans to the west Orange County city. When completed in 2027, the Ocoee Regional Sports Complex will spread across 150 acres and include a 150,000-square-foot indoor facility.
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Supporters say the indoor Seminole complex would not only host sports — such as basketball, volleyball, martial arts and gymnastics — but musical events, theatrical performances and school graduations.
Most Seminole high schools must hold commencement ceremonies outside the county — at the University of Central Florida or Orange County Convention Center — because there’s no venue in the county suitable for hundreds of graduates.
“We want the indoor complex to be as diverse as possible,” said Kristen Oswald, general manager of TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Altamonte Springs. “How great would it be to hold a graduation in Seminole County?”
Early plans show the as-yet-unnamed venue of about 140,000 square feet — roughly 1½ times the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter — on 28 acres of former pastureland northeast of the intersection of Moore’s Station Road and Cameron Avenue.
County officials point out that many tourists besides amateur athletes stay at hotels in Seminole, rather than Orange, to save money. The average daily room rate in Seminole is $106 per night on weekdays and $114 on weekends. In Orange a comparable room is about $90 higher per night.
“They want to be able to go to the theme parks. They want to be able to have it all,” Oswald said. “But they don’t want the price tag of Disney.”
The members of the new tourism improvement district advisory board consist of one resident appointed by each commissioner, one by the county manager and one by the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.
There are about 200 such districts around the country used to raise revenue to build infrastructure that attracts visitors. The only other one in the state is in the historic community of Ybor City, northeast of Tampa, which brings in thousands annually to shops, restaurants and festivals.