San Diego Tourism Marketing District Puts All 2014 Funding Requests on Indefinite Hold

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The San Diego Tourism Marketing District (SDTMD) board of directors has completed the public review process of all FY2014 SDTMD annual applications. It was determined that all funding requests would be placed on indefinite hold due to the lack of a signed operating agreement with the City of San Diego.

“Unfortunately we are not in a position to grant any funding requests because we don't have a signed contract”

"Unfortunately we are not in a position to grant any funding requests because we don't have a signed contract," said Terry Brown, chairman of the SDTMD board of directors.

Seventeen organizations, representing a variety of events and programs, were informed of the hold on FY2014 funding at the March 8 board meeting. The requested funds totaled $26.9 million.

"Based on the applications presented, these programs would have directly supported the production of an estimated four million San Diego room-night stays and would have represented more than $500 million in San Diego room-night revenue," said Brown. "We hope this is not a lost opportunity, but merely a delay.”

As a result of the hold on FY2014 funding, the TMD cannot consider more than a dozen San Diego organizations’ requests for financial support. These include the San Diego Bowl Game Association (Holiday Bowl and Poinsettia Bowl), San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, Beyond the Border Art Week, La Jolla Playhouse, the San Diego Brewers Guild Beer Week, the Farmers Open Golf Tournament, San Diego Bayfair, the California State Games, the San Diego Crew Classic and the Competitor Group Rock & Roll Marathon.

The Board will reassess the funding recommendations at a future meeting should the current situation change and will notice all parties should reconsideration be warranted.

ABOUT SDTMD

The San Diego Tourism Marketing District (SDTMD) is a nonprofit, mutual-benefit corporation dedicated to improving lodging room night consumption in the City of San Diego. SDTMD provides a private, nonprofit funding vehicle to stimulate City of San Diego lodging room demand through tourism promotion, marketing and advertising programs. The judicious allocation of these resources creates a positive economic, fiscal and employment impact on lodging businesses in the City of San Diego. For more nformation visit www.sdtmd.org.