The Funding Experts

We have created and implemented innovative funding mechanisms, including business improvement districts (BIDs) and tourism improvement districts (TIDs), and adjustments to bed taxes that have generated nearly $2 billion for our clients globally. Our expert team delivers unequaled knowledge, depth, and experience globally to destinations and communities that seek sustainable funding solutions to fuel their futures.  Civitas’ clients are innovative local, state and national governments as well as community organizations and groups of business or property owners.

Our team has served several times as an expert witness in challenges against districts, including South Lake Tahoe, CA, Tulsa, OK, and most recently, the successful defense of a PBID in Stockton, CA, in 2022. John Lambeth, our President and CEO, is also the primary drafter of 2022 legislation to help make PBIDs more defensible, AB 2890 (Bloom).

In 2022, we worked with fourteen Pacific Island nations to analyze existing and possible future tourism and community funding mechanisms. We also provided advice this year to stakeholders in Auckland, NZ, to help them determine the best options for sustainable funding to help their tourism sector flourish.

We are the nation’s leading firm in Tourism Improvement Districts (TIDs). Our team has helped form over 200 TIDs throughout the United States and helped several states investigate the possibility of establishing statewide funding. Notable TIDs formed include San Diego and Los Angeles; and the first districts in Louisville (Kentucky), Oregon (Portland), Kansas (Wichita), Florida (Tampa), Oklahoma (Tulsa), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Mobile (Alabama), Boston (Massachusetts), Albuquerque (New Mexico), and Tennessee (Memphis).

TIDs have become an increasingly popular – and essential – method of providing stable funding for destination marketing and promotion, tied directly to the lodging industry. Civitas is the expert in all aspects of TID creation: adopting enabling legislation, building support among tourism businesses and electeds, and guiding the formation process.

As thought leaders in the industry, we were honored to speak at the 2021 ECM Autumn Meeting, were asked to present on-site in Japan in 2018, have assisted the Destinations International Canadian Alliance, and were honored to speak in Léon, Mexico, at their Annual DMO Meeting in 2022.  We are regular speakers at meetings hosted by IDA, Destinations International, Sports ETA, and the U.S. Travel Association.

In 2018, Civitas completed a study commissioned by U.S. Travel regarding travel and tourism laws related to taxation and other levies. In 2019, in conjunction with U.S. Travel, we created the most comprehensive report to date on lodging and F&B levies. In 2020, we worked with several organizations to publish the Funding Futures Report. This report included detailed research into all U.S. and Canadian tourism funding mechanisms and highlighted the opportunities for new or enhanced funding of tourism & DMOs, post-COVID-19.