Hospitality leaders representing Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties were among about 200 Maryland tourism leaders assembled at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis on February 8th to meet with their state legislators to advocate for Gov. Martin O’Malley’s recommended budgets for the Maryland Tourism Development Board, the Office of Tourism Development and the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission. Speaking on behalf of the southern Maryland tourism community, Patrick Welton, General Manager of the Hampton Inn Waldorf, a property owned and managed by Cherry Cove Hospitality stated “Now is not the time to fight over tourism spending.” In spite of a 16.9% market share increase since 2007 Maryland only saw an ½ of 1% increase in occupancy 2012 over 2011. In 2012 Southern Maryland generated an estimated $438 million in Tourism sales and $14.5 million in the form of Tourism Taxes. A recent study concluded that for every dollar invested in tourism promotion Maryland realized $6 in state sales tax and more than $31 in state and local taxes. These taxes support the general funds of the operating budgets of government on the state and local levels. Maryland and more specifically southern Calvert and St. Mary’s County have been hard [...]
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