Hotel boom boosts economy

SANDUSKY — With Cedar Point, Kalahari, the lake and the islands, it's no surprise the area earned and keeps the nickname Vacationland. Erie County has always had hotels to accommodate visitors, but when the snow would fall, the hotel rooms would empty. "As a region, we had thousands of hotel rooms that would go underutilized in the winter," Erie County commissioner Pat Shenigo said. "Year-round groups were what we were always missing. Hoteliers couldn't make sense of investing in a hotel that sat empty for half the year." Recently, however, more hotels than ever have chosen to invest in Erie County with expansions, renovations and entirely new buildings. Cedar Point invested millions into its renovations of Sawmill Creek Resort and Castaway Bay, and the Sortino Co. expanded its Holiday Inn Express on Cleveland Road by 70 rooms for a total of 150. Then there are brand new hotels under construction like the 80-room Tru by Hilton at Milan and Bogart roads and the 90-room Holiday Inn Express in Milan Township by CertainTeed. Erie County commissioner Pat Shenigo Register photo/ERIN McLAUGHLIN "We haven't seen this kind of construction in the last 25 years," Shenigo said. Several factors could be behind the recent increase in the number of hotels under construction, according to the local tourism bureau Lake Erie Shores & Islands. "The economy is doing well, so people are traveling more," bureau spokesman Bryan Edwards said. "We've done a great job of marketing and promoting the region. And we are a five-hour drive from 65 million people. We are a close destination for people with a lot of things to see and do." For Shenigo, however, there is no more significant contributing factor than the Sports Force Park and the Cedar Point Sports Center. Sports complex The $65 million sports complex on Cleveland Road includes indoor and outdoor facilities drawing people to the area for tournaments year-round, ending the winter drought for hotels. "We put a roof over the snow to allow our existing hotels to be utilized," Shenigo said. "Now, hotels have the resources to invest in new properties, which was the plan all along." He observed the impact of the indoor Cedar Point Sports Center firsthand last week when the facility brought 1,600 players from five states for a volleyball tournament. "I've never seen anything like it. Every hotel room was filled. Most of these people would've never come here before, but now that they're here, they can see what we have to offer," Shenigo said. "We want people to stay for a week instead of night. We want to be the Orlando of Ohio, where people see all the nice things we have to offer and come back throughout the year." It appears to be working because, according to Edwards, Lake Erie Shores & Islands' website visits have doubled in the two years since Sports Force Park opened. And the more people who visit the area and stay in hotels, the better it is for the local economy. Construction crews work on the Tru by Hilton hotel at Milan and Bogart roads on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Register photo/MICHAEL HARRINGTON Tourism and economy The county collects a 4 percent tax bed tax from hotels. This money, however, can only be used to promote local tourism. "It's limited to tourism, but by investing in tourism, we attract more people to the area," Shenigo said. And the more people who visit the region, the more money that gets spent at local businesses with the county collecting a 6.75 percent tax on every sale and that goes into the general fund. "It's money we can use to serve every citizen of Erie County," Shenigo said. "We've seen our sales tax increase to new records since the sports complex opened." Before the sports complex, sales tax generated $14.4 million for the county. In 2019, the county received a record of $16.3 million in sales tax, and that was before the indoor portion, the Cedar Point Sports Center, even opened. The increase in hotels also creates more employment opportunities, in addition to the hundreds of construction jobs. Shenigo attributed recent developments on Milan Road like Chick-fil-A, Culver's and Hobby Lobby to the increased amount of visitors the new hotels allow the area to accommodate. Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegister