The Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau received $50,000 more from the city and county lodging taxes in 2007 than in 2006, said a bureau spokeswoman.

Representatives from the County Auditor’s office and the visitors bureau attribute the increase to the opening of two new hotels on East State Street.

About $238,000 was collected from the county and $64,000 was collected from the city from the last financial quarter of 2006 and the first three quarters of 2007, said Jodie Brothers, communications director for the bureau.

On big visitor and family weekends for Ohio University, the two new hotels helped to keep people in Athens, said Paige Alost, executive director for the bureau.

The city and the county each collect a 3 percent lodging tax, which is added on to a customer’s bill for a hotel stay. The tax makes up about 98 percent of the visitors bureau’s budget, Brothers said.

All of the money collected from the county lodging tax goes to the bureau except for a 5 percent processing fee for the county, said Athens County Auditor Jill Thompson.

35 percent of the city’s lodging tax is given to the visitors bureau, said Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht. An additional 35 percent (with a maximum total of $55,000 a year) is given to the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, and the remaining money is put into the city fund for city art programs and tourism, Hecht said.

The visitors bureau promotes tourism by publishing 60,000 visitors’ guides, maintaining the Athens Web site, sponsoring events and helping with tours, Brothers said.

In 2007 the visitors bureau helped sponsor more than 25 community programs, which drew visitors from outside Athens, she said.

The visitors bureau gave Ohio Brew Week $1,000 in 2007, said Melody Sands, marketing representative for Ohio Brew Week. Twenty one locally owned taverns and restaurants participated and helped sponsor the event. There were about 6,000-7,000 people who weren’t from Athens in attendance, Sands said.

The Dairy Barn’s Quilt National received about 10 percent of its budget in 2007 from the visitors bureau, said Kathleen Dawson, Quilt National director. The Quilt National brought in more than 8,000 visitors from across the country and the world in 2007. There were also fiber artists from 27 states and 9 foreign countries.