Dear fans of the LSU Tigers and Florida State Seminoles, welcome to Orlando. No doubt, you’re excited about the what lies ahead for the upcoming college football season. I’m excited for you. We all love this game.
But you should understand that almost every dollar you spend is funneled away from most of the members of our community, and steered right back into the pockets of Orlando tourism executives and their lobbyists.
This is because your every move is anticipated by the hoteliers and tourism agencies. And they end up with all of the money even though we’re the ones working in those hotels. Our families are completely ignored.
Many of you will arrive at the airport. From there you’ll head to the general area of International Drive or the theme parks. You’ll eat at chain restaurants because there the only ones that can afford that rent. Then you’ll head to the game. Afterwards, you’ll eat at more chain restaurants, then head back to the airport.
You won’t see most of the Orlando community.
And then there is the tourism development tax. This is revenue that we slammed on to your hotel night stay. We can’t use it for public safety, roads, or education. We have to spend it on tourism, where it goes back into the pockets of those executives and lobbyists we were talking about earlier.
This isn’t meant to ruin the game. You came to Orlando to have a good time. I respect that.
But the economic impact from your stay won’t help the people cooking your meals, or cleaning your rooms.
On Labor Day. Its unbelievably Real.
That’s wrong and something we need to work on.
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