The Coronado Tourism Improvement District (CTID) acts as a type of Business Improvement District in the city, allowing businesses to collectively fund marketing and economic development activities as authorized under state law. Since its formation in 2010, CTID has focused on destination marketing, tourism promotion, meetings and group travel, and local visitor economy. These efforts are solely funded through a 1% assessment on overnight hotel stays, which is split between CTID I (broader destination focus) and CTID II (formed in 2015 to provide direct benefit strictly to the assessed hotel properties).

Discover Coronado administers the CTID funds, and their board serves as the CTID Advisory Board, which includes representation for the four assessed hotel properties (the Hotel del Coronado, Loews, Marriott, and Glorietta Bay Inn), three members from community organizations, and two additional members of the local business community.

At the March 17 Coronado City Council meeting, Discover Coronado Executive Director Todd Little provided the Council with an annual report and management plan regarding CTID’s activities for the year and their proposed budget for the next fiscal year. While reviewing the past year’s trends, Little mentioned a drop in international travel, impacts from the situation in Iran, the opening of the Gaylord Pacific property in Chula Vista, which has affected staff hiring for local hotels, as well as the positive effects from the completion of the Hotel Del restoration.

The District has seen average room rates of $485 from the luxury sector over the past year, with an annual occupancy rate of 67 percent (61 percent of guests being first-time visitors) that matched last year’s rate. Over the past fiscal year, the Board also hired a Destination Sales Director and invested $100,000 to incentivize groups to hold meetings at the assessed properties (which has resulted in a $9 million return on investment), and invested $200,000 to update property assets for marketing campaigns to attract visitors.

Overall, the assessed resort properties saw a 23 percent increase in room nights booked from the previous year and a 37 percent increase in group rooms booked over the previous year, and supported 962 jobs in the industry.

The Board also continues to seek ways to support the community and business district of Coronado through partnerships on things like the holiday tree lighting, Orange Avenue banners, and wrappings for the Free Summer Shuttles. The Boards goals for the next fiscal year include prioritizing advocating for a long-term solution of the cross-border sewage issue, continuing to create awareness around Coronado as a destination through various partnerships, being more involved in the community to build awareness around CTID, hiring a content coordinator, focusing on ways to revive international travel (likely focusing on Canada), and investing in AI content strategies and tools.

In the discussion, Councilmember Carrie Downey brought up concerns around the impacts of the major increase in visitors to the Hotel del Coronado, specifically in November and December during the holiday season. Little responded that he is having discussions with the Del’s general manager about how to mitigate traffic concerns, and mentioned public transit as a potential avenue to focus on. He noted that the Board has discussed the possibility of a shuttle program during the upcoming NASCAR event in June, but no decision has been made on that yet.

Councilmember Kelly Purvis asked about the reserve funds, which Little explained came about during the pandemic when the Board made a decision to create a source of backup funds for emergencies with the goal of having a year’s worth of funds available in reserve. Purvis also requested a more detailed expenditure breakdown so that the Council and public can see which funds went towards CTID I and towards CTID II, and how the total expenditures compare to previous years.

Purvis’s comments were further echoed by Councilmembers Amy Steward and Mark Fleming. Fleming also reiterated Downey’s concerns about traffic and parking impacts from tourism during the holidays, and Little added that the Board would be open to discussing solutions with the City around those concerns and that he would be happy to help facilitate ideas with the Del’s general manager.

Additionally, Steward felt that a larger percentage of expenditure could go towards CTID I, where it could be more broadly applied to city-wide improvements such as the Downtown Beautification Project and preventing erosion on the beaches. With CTID II expenditures that must directly benefit the four assessed hotel properties, she suggested that some level of financial support for the electric mini-shuttle program might fit within those parameters.

With those comments, Steward said she wasn’t ready to approve the report and management plan at this time and instead would like to see the more detailed expenditure reporting first so the Council can have a more robust discussion around CTID’s future budgets and benefits to the community.

Purvis also felt that more could be done with CTID I projects aimed toward city-wide improvements that balance benefits for residents and tourism. While she added that she’s supportive of tourism in Coronado and the CTID Board’s work, she advocated for having additional dialogue between the City and the Board around future potential events hosted in Coronado to ensure they fit for the community, mentioning the timing of the NASCAR event as an example.

Alongside Purvis, Councilmembers Fleming and Downey voiced support for the continuation of this item so that they may discuss it with additional details and potential community-wide considerations.

Mayor John Duncan also asked about the role of Discover Coronado with the CTID, and Little explained that Discover Coronado focuses their spending and efforts on marketing Coronado as a destination, while the participating hotels focus on marketing their properties. Discover Coronado also puts together quarterly reports around tourism and those marketing efforts. In regard to expenditures, he also explained that more focus has been placed on marketing Coronado for group travel over leisure travel (though leisure travel remains important), given the higher revenues driven by groups hosting events, meetings, and conventions in Coronado.

Little added that he was open to the Council’s suggestions and would be happy to provide them with the details they had requested. With that, the Council agreed to direct City staff to work with Discover Coronado and the CTID Board to provide additional information to be presented for further discussion at a future City Council meeting.

Look for more coverage of the Coronado City Council meeting in next week’s issue of the Coronado Eagle & Journal.

The next city council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 7, at 4 p.m. at City Hall. For more information on upcoming meetings, please visit the City’s website at https://www.coronado.ca.us/449/Agendas-Minutes.

VOL. 116, NO. 12 – Mar. 25, 2026