Greater Birmingham region experiences Renaissance in tourism, industry leader says

The greater Birmingham region drew a record 4.6 million visitors in 2017, the head of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau told the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce in June.

And those visitors booked more than 4 million nights in hotel rooms, which was also a record, said John Oros, who took over as president and CEO of the convention and visitors bureau three years ago. This year, area hotels are on track to surpass that number by 4 percent, he said.

Visitors in 2017 spent a total of $1.9 billion in Jefferson County, which was a 5 percent increase from 2016, Oros told the crowd at the chamber’s June luncheon at the Hoover Country Club.

The Birmingham region generated $159 million in tourism-related tax revenues for the state in 2017 (a 5 percent increase) and more than $85 million in tax revenues for local governments, Oros said. Tourism-related taxes saved every Alabama resident $467 in taxes last year, he said.

“We are living in prosperous times when it comes to tourism in Jefferson County,” Oros said. “The greater Birmingham region has been coming into its own. A renaissance is under way.”

Birmingham is more and more becoming known as a food city, and Highlands Bar and Grill owner and executive chef Frank Stitt landed the city squarely in the spotlight by winning the James Beard Award for America’s most outstanding restaurant in May, Oros said.

Visitors are finding a lot to talk about, whether it be the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, Vulcan Park, the Birmingham Civil Rights District, Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, U.S. Women’s Open, Regions Tradition or SEC Baseball Tournament, he said.

Baseball fans coming to the tournament from throughout the Southeast spent $7 million in the region, much of it in Hoover, Oros said.

More good things are on the horizon, he said. In 2021, Birmingham is hosting the National Association of Sports Commissions, which is one of the premier tournament planning organizations in the country, he said. Those planners could in turn bring many tournaments and sporting events that create millions of dollars in economic impact, he said.

With Hoover officials talking about raising lodging taxes, one hotelier asked Oros his thoughts about the impact of lodging taxes. Oros said the Birmingham region already is in the top 5 highest regions for lodging taxes in the nation.

If Hoover raises lodging taxes, the city could lose some business to hotels in Shelby County or other municipalities with lower taxes, he said. However, “as long as the money is going back to develop new tourism attractions, we think that is a good investment of those dollars.”