LOCATION
Commonwealth of Kentucky
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Statewide Tourism Development
Specialized economic development program for tourism projects
Requires knowledge of both tourism and economic development
5 year relationship with Commonwealth, spanning two administrations
Jobs analysis using RIMS II and IMPLAN
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Tourism Development Cabinet (Cabinet) of the Commonwealth of Kentucky has engaged Johnson Consulting to perform analyses on attractions applying for the Kentucky Tourism Development Act (KTDA). The KTDA established a state sales tax incentive program for eligible new or expanding tourism attraction projects in the state.
The goals of the KTDA were: 1) to create more tourism-destination attractions to generate the expenditure of more tourism dollars in Kentucky by out-of-state visitors and 2) to preserve and create sources of tax revenues for the support of public services provided by the Commonwealth. Once a tourism attraction gained preliminary approval by the Cabinet, Johnson Consulting analyzes the project to determine if it will have a significant and positive economic impact on the state.
As part of this contract, Johnson Consulting analyzed the eligibility of a variety of proposed projects with hotel, retail, restaurant, convention and meeting, museum and historic components. These projects include the renovation of a historic building into the Henry Clay Hotel, the redevelopment of the Galleria into 4th Street Live! (a destination retail/entertainment/restaurant development), the $60+ million, 1,300-room Galt House Hotel renovation, the new 210-room Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center, a proposed 90-room boutique hotel in the historic and arts districts in downtown Louisville, which includes a contemporary art museum and destination high-end restaurant, the expansion of the Newport Aquarium, development of the Hofbrauhaus project in Louisville, and a Thoroughbred Walk of Fame/Retail Center project. We also conducted a market and operational analysis of the Kentucky Horse Park.
