About the VCB

The Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB)

was created through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the City of Coos Bay, the City of North Bend, and the Coquille Indian Tribe. In 2022, Coos County was added to a Restated IGA when voters approved tax collection in the unincorporated Charleston area. The IGA is the Governing Document of the VCB. A Board of Directors oversees the Policies and Activities of the VCB.

The VCB’s primary mission is to promote the Coos Bay, North Bend & Charleston areas as Oregon’s Adventure Coast to encourage tourism to the area, and, therefore, economic vitality from tourism.

As per the IGA, the Board of Directors of the VCB is made up of one (1) representative from each of the IGA Partners, plus one (1) Chamber of Commerce representative and one (1) Lodging Industry representative. Click here for more information about the VCB Board .

HOW THE VCB IS FUNDED

• THE VCB IS SOLELY FUNDED THROUGH LODGING TAXES COLLECTED BY COMMERCIAL LODGING PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS OF COOS BAY AND NORTH BEND, AT THE COQUILLE INDIAN TRIBE PROPERTIES, AND WITHIN A PRESCRIBED AREA AROUND CHARLESTON. The lodging tax rate is 9.5%.
• Residents in Coos County voted in May, 2022 to add a lodging tax in the unincorporated areas of Charleston. Those funds are not yet calculated into the VCB’s budget. Click here to see the area included in this taxing district .
• The VCB receives a portion of the lodging tax funds collected by the four IGA partners, equating to approximately 39% of all lodging taxes collected, to accomplish its goals. The cities and Coquille tribe retain the remaining lodging taxes collected by those entities; Coos County retains 30% of the taxes collected in Charleston with the remaining 31% going toward a new visitor center in Charleston.
• The VCB is restricted on what projects/expenditures it can spend this lodging tax funding by State of Oregon Law

Allowed expenditures by VCB from Lodging Tax funding:

1. Tourism Promotion and Marketing to encourage visitors to the destination and the administrative costs to accomplish this.
2. Tourism Facilities, such as a Visitor Information Center (VIC) or Conference Center, and the associated costs to manage such facilities.

FY23 ADOPTED BUDGET

Click here to see the FY23 Adopted Budget

Note: funds from Charleston are NOT reflected in this budget as the addition of the tax in the Charleston area was accomplished after this budget was approved.

THE VCB’s OVERALL BUDGET IS SPLIT BETWEEN TWO DEPARTMENTS: THE VCB (PROMOTIONS) AND THE COOS BAY VIC (TOURISM FACILITIES).

THE VCB’s TOURISM PROMOTION BUDGET IS SPLIT BETWEEN PROMOTION AND ADMINISTRATION:

• BUDGETED EXPENDITURES FOR PROMOTION/MARKETING/ADVERTISING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023 TOTALS $950,000 or approximately 77% of our budget
• BUDGETED EXPENDITURES FOR ADMINISTRATION TOTALS $286,100 or approximately 23%
• TOTAL BUDGET FOR THE VCB DEPARTMENT = $1,236,100

THE VCB’S BUDGET FOR TOURISM FACILITIES CURRENTLY COVERS THE COST OF MANAGING THE COOS BAY VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER (VIC). The City of Coos Bay remits additional funding to the VCB to cover these costs.

• BUDGETED EXPENDITURES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COOS BAY VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023 TOTAL $104,100

THE VCB’s TOTAL BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023 IS $1,340,200

This budget also includes some funding set aside for Contingency (approximately $100,000), as well.