Downtown Sacramento Tourism Sees Boost, But Hotels Harder To Find

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Tourists are flocking to Sacramento's downtown generating a healthy revenue increase of the Transient Occupancy tax.

The city has become a destination.

"We've got about 1.6 million more people coming downtown because of the Golden 1 Center," said Desmond Parrington with the City of Sacramento.

Parrington says concerts and shows, a business boom, and plans to renovate the convention center make the city a competitive market.

"There has been more and more interest in the downtown in terms of bringing on more hotels," said Parrington.

But right now, finding a place to stay can be troublesome.

"Do we have enough hotel rooms? You could argue that we don't," said Mike Testa, the CEO of Visit Sacramento.

Testa says limited hotel space impacts the type and size of events they attract.

"If we had more rooms we'd go after different kind of business and larger events to host in this city," said Testa.

But he says things are moving in a positive direction.

The hotel tax has generated nearly $3 million more in the first quarter of 2017-18 compared to last year.

Hotel occupancy continues an upward trend; recently reaching a record high of 80 percent. Testa says it's a good sign that the downtown area is attracting crowds and commerce.

"The more hotels we have, the more attractive we become as a convention destination," said Testa.

A handful of developers are working to add to Sacramento's hotel room total. Testa says he expects about 1,000 rooms to be added to the city in the next ten years.

More rooms mean more money that can be invested back into the community.