Reno-Sparks Convention and Tourism Authority president Chris Baum says hotel prices were so low, conventions were going other places.
“Sometimes we haven’t had a chance to have their business because they are not willing to go out there with a product that is priced so far below the market."
~Chris Baum, Reno-Sparks Convention and Tourism Authority President
So, Baum campaigned for hotels to raise rates, arguing that lowering prices doesn’t increase occupancy. They did and it worked.
Room rates went up nearly 10 percent over the previous year and occupancy rose 12 percent.
“When we price ourselves higher, more competitively then the conversation is more about what we have to offer.”
Reno and Tahoe area hotels earned $25 million more in 2013 than a year before. Baum says the agency will use some of the tax revenue generated by higher rates to repair infrastructure, but most of the money will go to marketing including efforts in China, South Korea, Japan, India and Brazil.
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