SAN DIEGO--The San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) announced it will cease operations effective Monday, June 3.
According to various published sources, the suspension of operations is due to a funding cutoff from the Tourism Marketing District (TMD). Funds have been frozen for weeks due to a legal and political conflict between San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and the city’s hotels.
Filner reportedly has tied the purse strings on further funding for the SDTA from TMD—normally created by a 2 percent hotel tax—until he is assured that a portion of the hotel tax revenue would help support the city’s planned year-long centennial celebration of the 1915 Panama- California Exposition in Balboa Park.
The SDTA normally counts on TMD revenue for 80 percent of its funding.
The 85 employees at the SDTA’s Visitor Information Center, located on Harbor Drive, will be impacted by the suspension of operations, while those booking the city’s convention center will remain employed as they are funded through an agreement with the San Diego Convention Center Corp.
UPDATE: The San Diego Tourism Authority will remain open following the release of frozen funds by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.
