About a dozen accommodators in Renfrew County have resigned from the Ottawa Valley Tourist Association (OVTA) in opposition to a proposed new tax. The OVTA wants to put a 4% municipal accommodation tax on hotel, motels and Air BNB rooms in the county, with half the money going to the tourist association and the other half going to the host municipality. Chief Operating Officer of Calabogie Peaks, Jim Hemlin, says last week they had a meeting with the County of Renfrew to share concerns around this new tax. Hemlin says the meeting went well, but at the end of the day they aren’t convinced the OVTA is working in their favour.
Hemlin feels that hotel and motel owners in the area would have more success marketing themselves as opposed to paying a tax to the OVTA to try and bring people to the area. He says all the Renfrew County accommodators questioned the way the new tax was being marketed to local municipalities and they’ve asked for an investigation to be launched into why false information was being shared.