Study
predicts rise in tourism in Long Beach
By Li-Wei Yang
Summer Forty Niner
Overnight
visitors pour $260 million directly into
the Long Beach economy each year, according
to a newly released report by the department
of economics here at Cal State Long Beach.
Commissioned by the Long Beach Area Convention
& Visitors Bureau, the study, for the
first time ever, focused on the monetary
impacts of overnight visitors to the city’s
economy. The report used data from 2000,
not 2001, because tourism-related activities
dropped off tremendously as a result of
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The
report showed optimism that, over a longer
period of time, the tourism industry would
recover to the level of 2000.
The study showed hotels in Long Beach benefited
most from overnight visitors, taking in
over $110 million annually. Restaurants
in the city received $90 million, and $60
milllion went to the combination of retail,
entertainment, local transportation, gas,
car rentals, and other goods and services
purchased in the city. A bulk of the total
expenditures, 72 percent, comes from business
and convention visitors. Consequently these
direct expenditures created and supported
7,500 jobs within the city — mostly within
the hotel and restaurant businesses.
“Tourism is a very important element of
the Long Beach economy,” said Joseph Magaddino,
chairman of the department of economics,
and the author of the study. “I’m very optimistic
about Long Beach’s future.”
Also, overnight visitors have brought a
large sum of tax revenues for the city.
In 2000, Long Beach received $13.2 million
in transient occupancy tax; restaurants
and bars paid a total of $358,700 in business
license taxes, $72,000 of which comes from
overnight visitors, the study estimated.
However, despite the healthy numbers, the
city is not without problems. “Two important
long term issues… are transportation and
housing. We really need to address improving
the 710 freeway, for our visitors, residents
and to better facilitate the movement of
goods through our ports,” Magaddino said.
“Long Beach, like the region, has a significant
shortfall in its housing stock. The 4,000
new housing units in the downtown area is
a terrific start. If we are to attract
jobs to the city, we must have available
and affordable housing.”
The city has long wanted to address the
710 freeway problem. Currently there are
several plans to expand the 710 freeway
— which serves as a gateway to downtown
Long Beach — but opposition to the expansion
has been fairly strong. Similarly, JetBlue’s
planned expansion of the Long Beach Airport
has met strong oppositions in the city council.
Furthermore, the CSULB study sees a possible
shortage of hotel rooms in Long Beach in
the near future. Since 1998 the hotel occupancy
rate has steadily risen to about 74 percent,
which means it is closely approaching the
cushion rate of 80 percent — a rate that
is considered near-full occupancy in the
hotel industry. And if this problem is not
addressed, the shortage of hotel rooms could
create a precarious scenario for the convention
business.
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