As many of you know, the San Diego Tourism Authority’s primary source of funding is the San Diego Tourism District (TMD). Presently, we are in a transition period from the old TMD, which expired December 31, 2012, to the new. We are reaching out to provide you with an update about that transition process and the resulting impacts to our organization.
By way of background, the TMD model has been extremely successful as a means to promote San Diego as a premier travel destination. So successful, the City of San Diego voted last year to approve a new TMD with a term of 39.5 years starting January 1, 2013. While collections for the new TMD began on January 1, 2013, there is a delay in release of those funds due to procedural issues. As a result, our funding from the TMD is expected to be temporarily disrupted.
Since the majority of our funding comes from the TMD, we have taken steps to reduce our expenses and have placed temporary holds on expenditures such as media buys, staff travel and some vendor contracts. We expect resolution of this issue and the release of TMD funds for critical sales and marketing programs shortly.
We appreciate your support during this time of transition and we will continue to keep you apprised with updates as needed.
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