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Posted on 03/25/2026 1:05:53 PM PDT by DFG
The Windy City is blowing travelers away with its new tourist fee.
Chicago's City Council has unanimously voted to create a Tourism Improvement District - and raise hotel rooms taxes in that district to 19 percent, one of the highest in the country.
That’s higher than Las Vegas - and far above cities like Los Angeles, where hotel taxes sit closer to 14 percent.
Under the plan, a new 1.5 percent surcharge will be added to hotel stays at larger properties, with the money funneled into tourism marketing efforts run by Choose Chicago.
On a $300 hotel room, visitors could now pay nearly $60 in taxes and fees alone.
Choose Chicago CEO Kristen Reynolds said competitors ‘know very well that Chicago is underfunded, and they use it to their advantage’ to lure away long-standing clients.
The agency plans to use the new funds to boost global advertising, expand influencer campaigns and create a hotel grant program. But critics say the strategy is fundamentally flawed.
‘Chicago just raised the price of admission and is hoping more people show up,’ wealth advisor Ted Jenkin told the Daily Mail. ‘It will only make the city less competitive.’
The plan has also been widely mocked online. ‘Let’s make it more expensive to visit Chicago so we can attract more visitors,’ one Reddit user wrote.
‘It’s already brutal to get a hotel here - how is this supposed to help tourism?’ another added.
A third joked on Reddit: ‘When has anything this city does ever been logical?’
Others warned the move could drive away major events and conventions - a key source of revenue for the city. ‘Bye bye to more trade shows in the city,’ one user wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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Born and raised in Chicago. Loved being in the city. No more.
‘Bye bye to more trade shows in the city,’
…yep! Lots of money in conventions and trade shows business.
If they were even slightly capable of logic...
They wouldn’t be leftists in the first place.
No, it is to boost revenue, without raising taxes.
They tax the heck out of tourists/business travellers.
Check out the ‘fees’ on a rental car!
Hotel taxes are easy to increase politically speaking, because out of town visitors who can’t vote there pay the taxes.
Whether their marketing pays off remains to be seen.
Maybe that new Obama center will be a tourist attraction.
I slept in Chicago once.
The price was OK, but after I got the bill, I was stunned!
There were so many taxes to be paid, the bill just skyrocketed.
That was after major Dailey proudly raised hotel tax and boasted how is he balancing the city budget by charging out of towners.
Never did it again.
I Slept in hotels In Elmhurst or Oak Grove and commuted.
And it is going to be almost 20 years since I visited that part of US at all.
After hearing about all the crime on Miracle mile, Lincoln Park and Lake Shore Park, I do not plan to go there ever.
Boost tourism by raising hotel taxes? That sounds like a variation of, “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
🤔
Who in their right minds would want to invest money or even go to these high tax, regulation happy, violent, hostile to capitalism socialist enclaves.
Bingo. Last time I was in Chicago, a year ago, I rented a car for 8 days, out of O’Hare. Half the cost were fees and taxes, literally. Half. I did a double take and said whoa, maybe I need to rethink this. I stayed with relatives knowing the hotel rates were already insane.
You can see most of it on a travel documentary. Who wants to go to Chicargo anyway. Not me.
Here in the free state of FL, our government looks for ways to save taxpayer $.
First of all, Chicago isn’t on my bucket list. Drove through in the 80’s on our way out west. Not anything I want to relive today. I’ll drive outta my way if I ever get there again.
Get rid of the less-wealthy tourists. They add nothing.
When low IQ voters elect low IQ politicians this is the result.
(Chicago’s City Council has unanimously voted to create a Tourism Improvement District - and raise hotel rooms taxes in that district to 19 percent, one of the highest in the country.)
Rank Stupidity is a significant trait among Democrats.
The agency plans to use the new funds to boost global advertising, expand influencer campaigns and create a hotel grant program.
(When low IQ voters
elect low IQ politicians
this is the result.)
🔝🔝🔝
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