DULUTH — For years, the city’s tourism industry has pumped money into the local economy. A dedicated local tax to promote the city as a visitor destination has proven a useful tool to grow the financial pie.
But that pie now appears likely poised to shrink, according to City Finance Director Jen Carlson.
In a presentation to the Duluth City Council earlier this week, Carlson noted that Americans’ savings, discretionary spending and travel have declined this year. And Duluth has been far from immune to the consequences, experiencing a corresponding dip in local tourism tax revenues. Instead of growing as it did coming out of the pandemic, tourist spending has stagnated and gravitated toward a level…
