Palatine may drop out of visitor bureau

The benefits to Palatine as a member of the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau are so "inconsequential" that officials are reconsidering renewing.

They said as much at a council meeting to convention bureau President Fran Bolson, who hopes to stop Palatine from withdrawing just as Hoffman Estates did in March.

Palatine pays between $25,000 and $28,000 in annual membership -- a sharp increase since 2002 when towns paid a flat $4,000. Now fees are based on a percentage of the hotel and motel tax revenue.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said a recent bureau report showed its leads generated $69,000 in hotel room bookings. Of that, Palatine saw about $3,500 in sales tax revenue.

"That was the direct result of their efforts," said Ottesen. "We're capturing some of the eating and drinking dollars but not really the shopping and other tourism."

Dan Varroney is one of several councilmen less than thrilled with the numbers generated by the Schaumburg-based tourism organization. It makes more sense, he says, for Palatine businesses such as Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn Express to collaborate and form their own joint membership.

"The village pays the marketing fee and the hotels get a direct benefit," he said. "They should have the relationship and make the investment."

Palatine could then use the nearly $30,000 it pays in annual membership dues to independently promote the village, Varroney says.

After Hoffman Estates quit the bureau earlier this year, officials said they planned to take the $77,800 in dues and quickly hire a full-time tourism and business retention coordinator.

But Bolson said the original intent of Illinois implementing such a high hotel/motel tax was for tourism promotion.

"Some of the intent of visitors paying an 11 percent tax is to reinvest the money into visitors guides and promoting the region's restaurants," she said.

Hotel Indigo general manager Lori Hanser agrees the bureau provides invaluable services through trade shows, telemarketing, a large database and tours. The hotel will be booked for a Nike sports tournament this summer, business the bureau steered its way.

"Their sales team at the bureau is an extension of ours in a way," said Hanser. "With all the great development happening in Palatine, it'd be a shame to leave a bureau that's doing so much to promote the town."

Other towns have recently reevaluated their membership. One of the biggest was Arlington Heights, which decided to stick with the bureau despite $150,000 in dues.

"We came to the conclusion that we can do things once people get into this area," said Village President Arlene Mulder. "They give us a lot of leads and do outreach to the entire country. We're definitely getting more return than what we pay."

But officials don't need reminding that Palatine doesn't have dozens of restaurants in its downtown and the Arlington Racetrack at its disposal, which would drive revenue to the village in other ways.

Palatine will decide whether to pull its membership this fall when next year's budget is approved.