Visit Portland, a tax-exempt nonprofit that promotes tourism in the Portland metropolitan area, will launch a $74,500 marketing campaign targeted at the “LGBTQ+” and “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) markets following approval of the plan by the Portland City Council on Monday.
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The Portland City Council approved the agreement for fiscal year 2024-2025 by a 5-2 vote at its meeting Monday. Under the agreement, the city will remit to Visit Portland about $1.5 million in assessment fees collected from 23 hotels in the downtown Portland area designated the “Portland Tourism Development District.”
Portland Tourism Development District and participating hotels map
According to an agreement between the city and the nonprofit, an estimated $745,000 of the levy will be used for marketing and promotion of events and conferences in the Tourism Development District.
The agreement mandates that 10% of the marketing budget (an estimated $74,500) be “specifically allocated to BIPOC, LGBTQ+ markets and community DEI efforts.”
Projects undertaken by Tourism Portland to reach the “BIPOC” and “LGBTQ+” markets include advertising marketing campaigns across multiple platforms, offering financial incentives to groups that host large events and conventions at hotels, and sponsorships to promote Portland as a “destination of choice” for these markets.
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Councilwoman Kate Sykes, a former co-chair of the Maine Democratic Socialists Alliance (Maine DSA), said the funding would market Portland to a “more diverse population,” in response to the approval order issued before the agreement was passed.
“This will create a new district where hotels will contribute money to a fund and it will allow the Portland Tourism Board to create tourism programming to do different things, including marketing Portland to a more diverse population, particularly LGBTQ and BIPOC people,” Sykes said Monday.
“And basically creating a broader message about what Portland is like and why it’s a great place to visit,” Sykes said.
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“I support this program. I think it’s a great program and it’s good for our city. And City Councilman [Regina] “Phillips was talking about how we can make a concerted effort to respect the people who live in the city and visit year-round, the vulnerable,” she added. “And this is what we’re doing. So I think we’re putting our money where our mouths are.”
The agreement between the city and the Portland Tourism Board was approved by a 5-2 vote, with Councilors Anna Trevorrow and Roberto Rodriguez voting against it.
