Barry White, president of the Chattanooga Tourism Company (formerly the Convention and Visitors Bureau), said it is not expected that Chattanooga tourism will return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2023.
He said the bureau has taken about a 58 percent funding cut from the sudden halt to local tourism.
Mr. White said he had to furlough 8-9 employees, but has sought not to make personnel cuts. "We are a talent-dependent organization," he said.
He said once the virus hit, all spring advertising was immediately halted.
Mr. White said the bureau is now focusing advertising on the leisure visitor. He said that segment will come back much soon than large group gatherings.
He said at the time he arrived in Chattanooga 13 months ago "there was not a penny in reserve." He said the board began to put money aside and that has helped the organization survive.
Mr. White said group has a "restart" focus in May and a "recovery" focus for mid-June.
The group, which gets all of the county's hotel-motel tax funds, said he was not asking the County Commission to make up its deficit.