Hotelier, Senator draw lively debate over Visit Orlando, public transit funding

How can Orange County — home of Disney World’s theme parks — capitalize on the 75 million visitors arriving by beefing up the community’s underfunded bus service or expanding the SunRail that goes quiet on weekends and nights?

In advance of the upcoming Legislature Session, a hotelier and a state Senator leading the charge debated each other on Wednesday in front of the League of Women Voters of Orange County. 

To fund better public transportation, Frank Santos, CEO of Rosen Hotels and Resorts, wants a new hotel surcharge that he dubbed the Tourist Transportation Tax on top of what the county currently levies, which is a 6% tax on short-term stays and hotels known as TDT or the Tourist Development Tax. Santos previously said a new three-cent surcharge on every dollar spent could generate around $180 million in revenue, according to Fox 35 Orlando. 

“We need our employees to get to work faster,” said Santos, who runs the largest independent hotel chain in the state, as some of his employees spend hours riding the bus daily.

Meanwhile, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith filed more bills on Wednesday to reform TDT. Guillermo Smith’s chief concern is over the $100 million of hotel tax revenue funding Visit Orlando, while the community struggles to pay for public transit and other needs, he told the crowd.

“I think $105 million in public money to Visit Orlando is an insane amount of public dollars to give when we have so many community challenges,” the Orlando Democrat said. “We know that tourism is a huge economic driver in our region. … But we also have to acknowledge that tourists put a large strain on our resources in our community.”

But Santos countered, arguing that using TDT to advertise Orlando’s tourism industry is essential.

“All of the numbers that the Senator has quoted, he needs to realize that it’s expensive to do marketing and sales around the world,” Santos challenged.

But Guillermo Smith said the theme parks themselves — multibillion-dollar companies like The Walt Disney Company and Comcast Corp. — should play a bigger role and pony up money to support Visit Orlando’s marketing mission to attract visitors.

Still, Santos and Guillermo Smith found common ground.

Guillermo Smith said he supports Santos’ plan to expand the hotel tax, even as he advocates for TDT reforms.

Last Session, one of his proposals was included in the Senate tax bill, although it was stripped out in the last-minute budget negotiations.

“The fact that it almost made it across the finish line, I think, is a testament to the growing bipartisan support behind reform,” Guillermo Smith told the crowd Wednesday.