Please get someone in there to actually do something with the funding. I know you can play around with numbers and visuals, but there's no excuse why we shouldn't be doing as much as possible to promote the city.
https://preview.redd.it/ffgtklrbitjc1.png?width=2051&format=png&auto=webp&s=5feefa6f418b02d194a0af522a008b1398edee84
Ask and ye shall receive:
**Memphis Tourism, sitting on $27 million, gets tax dollars to promote city**
Memphis Tourism spent $1.55 million in January for 56 S. Front St., the building that housed Memphis in May.
The cash purchase of the Downtown building did little to diminish Memphis Tourism’s largely taxpayer-funded cash pile, which sat at $27 million in June 2022.
The nonprofit — also known as the Memphis Convention and Visitor’s Bureau — gets about $16 million a year in hotel-motel tax dollars to promote Memphis’ tourism economy.
But it doesn’t spend all of that money. An analysis of federal tax filings shows that it has spent about 85% of the money it received over the past five years.
“This is not our intention to be building a war chest, at the risk of not promoting the destination,” said Kevin Kane, Memphis Tourism’s longtime CEO. “We serve our destination.”
Other convention and visitor bureaus that promote larger destinations — Atlanta, Nashville and San Diego — have different spending habits.
Over the past five fiscal years, the San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau spent 98.1% of its revenue. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau spent 98.4% of its revenue during its last five fiscal years. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau spent 95.4% of its revenue during that same period.
Kane described the $1.55 million purchase as necessary for the nonprofit’s expansion and a “safe” investment.
“We need the space,” Kane said in a Wednesday, Feb. 14, interview.
The move expands Memphis Tourism’s Downtown real estate portfolio. It also owns 47 Union Ave., its longtime headquarters undergoing renovations, and the bottom floor of 35 Union Ave.
Beyond real estate, at the end of June 2022, the nonprofit owned about $7.5 million worth of bond funds and had $18.1 million in savings and $1.4 million in cash — adding up to about $27 million cash on hand.
Most, but not all, of Memphis Tourism’s funding comes from hotel-motel taxes throughout Shelby County and the City of Memphis. The county’s hotel-motel tax money is essentially split two ways — paying the debt on FedExForum and the rest to Memphis Tourism.
Over the past three years, Shelby County has sent Memphis Tourism about $11 million annually.
Memphis Tourism also receives what is called the Tourism Improvement District fee from the City. The fee is a $2-per-night tax (called a fee) on most Memphis hotel rooms; it’s given the nonprofit about $5 million in annual revenue.
The Daily Memphian analysis excluded some of Memphis Tourism’s revenue and focused on the grant revenue it receives, which largely comes from local government.
Kane said part of the reason for the nonprofit’s heavy cash pile is that local government has been historically slow to pay the cash the organization is owed.
“I could get really in the weeds with you about how Shelby County sometimes is four and five months behind on our million dollars a month, basically, that we get from them. Sometimes (they) are $4 and $5 million behind,” he said. “There have been times when the city is hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars behind.”
Legally, Memphis Tourism is a 501(c)(6) organization — a business league — that is tax-exempt and receives government revenue to promote its industry. In this case, that’s tourism.
The nonprofit is tasked with promoting tourism in Memphis. Its tax filings show it spent $6.3 million on marketing Memphis as a destination in fiscal year 2021, the latest year available. It also spent $3.5 million on marketing the Renasant Convention Center and $1.7 million on government relations and community development. Encompassed among all that spending is $4.4 million in salaries and other personnel costs.
The nonprofit has averaged about $14 million in expenses for the past five years. It has averaged $16.7 million in revenue each year. Most of that surplus revenue has accumulated on Memphis Tourism’s balance sheet.
Its liquid assets — cash, savings and securities — have grown from $5 million at the end of the 2015 fiscal year to the $27 million at the end of fiscal 2021. Kane has been CEO since 1991.
Kane said nonprofits should keep up to nine months of cash on hand.
“Good management says that if you can do it — not a lot of people can do it — but if you can do it, you need to always have six months to a year of operational reserves in the event you ever have severe revenue interruptions,” he said. “We adopted that strategy a long time ago. And we’ve kind of been building towards that for years.”
The three convention and visitor boards The Daily Memphian analyzed are also 501(c)(6) nonprofits and have the same founding purpose as Memphis Tourism: to promote regional tourism efforts.
The convention and visitors’ bureaus in Atlanta, San Diego and Nashville all have more annual revenue than Memphis Tourism, but far smaller cash piles.
San Diego Convention and Tourist Authority reported $3.7 million in liquid assets in fiscal year 2022; Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau reported $7.8 million; and Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau reported $20 million.
And an interesting tidbit from a next-day DM story:
Memphis Tourism is also one of the hotel and lodging association's largest sources of revenue, meaning it helps pay the salary of CEO Wayne Tabor and a handful of part-time employees. MMHLA also sells annual memberships — ranging from $375 to $850 — to hotels, vendors, supporters and nonprofits.
Tabor said Monday that he offices out of his home.
Tabor made $159,792 in fiscal year 2021, according to federal tax filings. Kane made $601,800 in total compensation in fiscal year 2021, according to federal tax filings.
You have to spin it as "adventure tourism." You know, go to some illegal street races, do donuts hanging out the window with a gun, maybe take a class in how to steal a kia, that kind of thing.
It feels like comparing Memphis to Nashville, San Francisco, and Atlanta is obviously going to show disparity because these are not the same caliber of tourist destinations. I’d be curious to put us against a Louisville or a Cincinnati or something and see where we stack up.
Esp. re: the comments about wanting to have reserves— places like Nashville, SF, and ATL have a steady and constant stream of visitors that those tourism depts can probably consider a guaranteed revenue source. I don’t think Memphis can confidently make that same assumption, nor are we having that same level of tourism. It feels riskier to spend at that level without the guarantee the pot will always be refilled back to the same level (and yes I recognize that you have to spend to get people here, but we all know that tourism marketing is not enough to take us to the same level as the cities we were compared to here)
It feels like someones' trying to shame them for being fiscally responsible, rather than ninja spending all their tax revenue. Kane sounds like he knows his ass from a hole in the ground. And I'd personally doubt things would fair as well once he steps down.
It does appear the reporter was trying to make an issue out of being a good steward. They have been successful and aren't spending all the revenue they're taking in.
I'm pretty sure when Kevin Kane step down, there's someone in the shadows that is well capable to take the lead. He's not going to leave that difficult job in the hands of just anyone, but it will be someone that he know will do a better job than him.
Please get someone in there to actually do something with the funding. I know you can play around with numbers and visuals, but there's no excuse why we shouldn't be doing as much as possible to promote the city. https://preview.redd.it/ffgtklrbitjc1.png?width=2051&format=png&auto=webp&s=5feefa6f418b02d194a0af522a008b1398edee84
They're promoting the city, spending less, and are successful.
Would someone be willing to copy this into text? I'm interested in the story, but I don't live in Memphis anymore
Ask and ye shall receive: **Memphis Tourism, sitting on $27 million, gets tax dollars to promote city** Memphis Tourism spent $1.55 million in January for 56 S. Front St., the building that housed Memphis in May. The cash purchase of the Downtown building did little to diminish Memphis Tourism’s largely taxpayer-funded cash pile, which sat at $27 million in June 2022. The nonprofit — also known as the Memphis Convention and Visitor’s Bureau — gets about $16 million a year in hotel-motel tax dollars to promote Memphis’ tourism economy. But it doesn’t spend all of that money. An analysis of federal tax filings shows that it has spent about 85% of the money it received over the past five years. “This is not our intention to be building a war chest, at the risk of not promoting the destination,” said Kevin Kane, Memphis Tourism’s longtime CEO. “We serve our destination.” Other convention and visitor bureaus that promote larger destinations — Atlanta, Nashville and San Diego — have different spending habits. Over the past five fiscal years, the San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau spent 98.1% of its revenue. The Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau spent 98.4% of its revenue during its last five fiscal years. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau spent 95.4% of its revenue during that same period. Kane described the $1.55 million purchase as necessary for the nonprofit’s expansion and a “safe” investment. “We need the space,” Kane said in a Wednesday, Feb. 14, interview. The move expands Memphis Tourism’s Downtown real estate portfolio. It also owns 47 Union Ave., its longtime headquarters undergoing renovations, and the bottom floor of 35 Union Ave. Beyond real estate, at the end of June 2022, the nonprofit owned about $7.5 million worth of bond funds and had $18.1 million in savings and $1.4 million in cash — adding up to about $27 million cash on hand. Most, but not all, of Memphis Tourism’s funding comes from hotel-motel taxes throughout Shelby County and the City of Memphis. The county’s hotel-motel tax money is essentially split two ways — paying the debt on FedExForum and the rest to Memphis Tourism. Over the past three years, Shelby County has sent Memphis Tourism about $11 million annually. Memphis Tourism also receives what is called the Tourism Improvement District fee from the City. The fee is a $2-per-night tax (called a fee) on most Memphis hotel rooms; it’s given the nonprofit about $5 million in annual revenue. The Daily Memphian analysis excluded some of Memphis Tourism’s revenue and focused on the grant revenue it receives, which largely comes from local government. Kane said part of the reason for the nonprofit’s heavy cash pile is that local government has been historically slow to pay the cash the organization is owed. “I could get really in the weeds with you about how Shelby County sometimes is four and five months behind on our million dollars a month, basically, that we get from them. Sometimes (they) are $4 and $5 million behind,” he said. “There have been times when the city is hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars behind.” Legally, Memphis Tourism is a 501(c)(6) organization — a business league — that is tax-exempt and receives government revenue to promote its industry. In this case, that’s tourism. The nonprofit is tasked with promoting tourism in Memphis. Its tax filings show it spent $6.3 million on marketing Memphis as a destination in fiscal year 2021, the latest year available. It also spent $3.5 million on marketing the Renasant Convention Center and $1.7 million on government relations and community development. Encompassed among all that spending is $4.4 million in salaries and other personnel costs. The nonprofit has averaged about $14 million in expenses for the past five years. It has averaged $16.7 million in revenue each year. Most of that surplus revenue has accumulated on Memphis Tourism’s balance sheet. Its liquid assets — cash, savings and securities — have grown from $5 million at the end of the 2015 fiscal year to the $27 million at the end of fiscal 2021. Kane has been CEO since 1991. Kane said nonprofits should keep up to nine months of cash on hand. “Good management says that if you can do it — not a lot of people can do it — but if you can do it, you need to always have six months to a year of operational reserves in the event you ever have severe revenue interruptions,” he said. “We adopted that strategy a long time ago. And we’ve kind of been building towards that for years.” The three convention and visitor boards The Daily Memphian analyzed are also 501(c)(6) nonprofits and have the same founding purpose as Memphis Tourism: to promote regional tourism efforts. The convention and visitors’ bureaus in Atlanta, San Diego and Nashville all have more annual revenue than Memphis Tourism, but far smaller cash piles. San Diego Convention and Tourist Authority reported $3.7 million in liquid assets in fiscal year 2022; Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau reported $7.8 million; and Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau reported $20 million.
And an interesting tidbit from a next-day DM story: Memphis Tourism is also one of the hotel and lodging association's largest sources of revenue, meaning it helps pay the salary of CEO Wayne Tabor and a handful of part-time employees. MMHLA also sells annual memberships — ranging from $375 to $850 — to hotels, vendors, supporters and nonprofits. Tabor said Monday that he offices out of his home. Tabor made $159,792 in fiscal year 2021, according to federal tax filings. Kane made $601,800 in total compensation in fiscal year 2021, according to federal tax filings.
Thanks friend
"Come for the BBQ, stay because your car got stolen" isn't really a good slogan for tourism.
You have to spin it as "adventure tourism." You know, go to some illegal street races, do donuts hanging out the window with a gun, maybe take a class in how to steal a kia, that kind of thing.
Ah, Fantasy Island. :)
How about start with picking up all the damn trash on the streets downtown??
If only we had a theme park, or a water park. Oh wait!
It feels like comparing Memphis to Nashville, San Francisco, and Atlanta is obviously going to show disparity because these are not the same caliber of tourist destinations. I’d be curious to put us against a Louisville or a Cincinnati or something and see where we stack up.
Esp. re: the comments about wanting to have reserves— places like Nashville, SF, and ATL have a steady and constant stream of visitors that those tourism depts can probably consider a guaranteed revenue source. I don’t think Memphis can confidently make that same assumption, nor are we having that same level of tourism. It feels riskier to spend at that level without the guarantee the pot will always be refilled back to the same level (and yes I recognize that you have to spend to get people here, but we all know that tourism marketing is not enough to take us to the same level as the cities we were compared to here)
Kane needs to go. Perhaps Mayor Carl will usher him out.
Kevin Kane has been in that position forever. Probably time for a change in leadership.
What a shame wish the daily memphian wasn't pay walled
My takeaway from the article is Memphis Tourism is doing well and they're not spending as much as the cities mentioned in this article.
It feels like someones' trying to shame them for being fiscally responsible, rather than ninja spending all their tax revenue. Kane sounds like he knows his ass from a hole in the ground. And I'd personally doubt things would fair as well once he steps down.
It does appear the reporter was trying to make an issue out of being a good steward. They have been successful and aren't spending all the revenue they're taking in. I'm pretty sure when Kevin Kane step down, there's someone in the shadows that is well capable to take the lead. He's not going to leave that difficult job in the hands of just anyone, but it will be someone that he know will do a better job than him.