Bourne (TAN): The town of Bourne in Massachusetts, US, is looking to utilise tourism dollars to have visitors return and support the community.
The Cape Cod Times quoted a local official as saying the town needed to increase the local room occupancy excise tax on hotel and motels from 4 to 6 per cent. The additional two per cent could be diverted to a community events fund.
“It’s a reinvestment in tourism dollars,” said the official named James Potter. “It’s going towards something to keep them (tourists) coming back.”
Once the bylaw is passed, a new community events committee will receive requests for projects and determine where to allocate the money through grants. The objective is to help subsidize an event or project, such as in advertising or promotion.
The mission of the committee “is to sponsor and encourage community events, projects, activities, services, programs, and public improvements which are of mutual interest to the visitors and residents of the town of Bourne,” according to the draft bylaw, the report said.
The goal is to ”strengthen the town as a whole by fostering community involvement and spirit,” the draft bylaw said.
This push for Bourne, MA, comes after a similar experiment proved successful in the nearby Wareham town.
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