Politics

Chicago City Council Boosts Downtown Hotel Taxes to 19%

The Chicago City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to hike the city’s tax on downtown hotel rooms to fund a marketing campaign designed to burnish Chicago’s image.

With the backing of hotel owners and the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, the city’s tax on hotel rooms downtown, near McCormick Place, the Illinois Medical District and Hyde Park will rise from 17.5% to 19%, the highest in the nation.

The creation of Chicago’s first Tourism Improvement District would last for five years, and would have to be renewed by an oversight board of hotel operators and the City Council.

The tax hike will generate $40 million annually that Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, will use to launch a marketing and incentive campaign to attract more visitors — and their fat wallets — to Chicago.

Choose Chicago CEO Kristen Reynolds told alderpeople that the influx of cash will help level the playing field between Chicago and other cities, and help Chicago compete for high-profile conventions and events by offering incentives now beyond the agency’s capacity.

But Choose Chicago will also use the money to tell Chicago’s story — despite the constant drumbeat of criticism from President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly denigrated the city as a crime-ridden “hell hole,” Reynolds told alderpeople in February.

“Our competitors benefit from the negative narratives surrounding our city that we can’t afford to counteract, and they offer lucrative incentives that they know we can’t match,” Reynolds said.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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