Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports (TTS) is a 501 c(6) non-profit organization funded by the City of Tuscaloosa, the Tuscaloosa County Commission, and various fundraising efforts. The primary purpose of TTS is to enhance economic development through destination promotion. Destination promotion drives economic development in four ways: attracting strategic events, raising the destination profile, building transport networks, and raising the quality of life of residents.
The primary measure for judging the success of TTS is the amount of lodging tax generated in the Tuscaloosa area. Lodging taxes are paid by individuals spending the night in hotels. Therefore, the tax we look to increase is paid by visitors to our area, not our local hotels nor most of the citizens that live here every day. Thus, as we increase the amount of lodging tax collected, we help to relieve a portion of the tax burden our citizens must pay to enjoy the services offered by our government. The economic impact our agency has on the community is significant. Tax dollars generated by tourism produce tax savings for each household. To be specific, without the taxes produced by tourism, each household would have to pay $1,452 more in taxes each year to maintain services currently offered by the government.