The proposal would create what's known as a tourism improvement district, which would use an extra two percent fee to bolster marketing efforts for the city.
Ameet Patel with the Thoroughbred Hospitality Group described how it would work during the council's work session Tuesday.
"The idea of it is fairly simple. Participating hotels that meet a certain criteria elect to collect a small assessment from our guests that visit us every day from out of town. Every dollar that's collected goes towards bringing in and fostering tourism back here into the greater Lexington area," he said.
The fee would generate just over two million a year, according to proponents.
"I want to emphasize that this proposal has been driven by the industry itself with unanimous support from the hotels that are included in this proposed district,"
VisitLex President Mary Quinn Ramer also noted,
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the extra fee would bring the total taxes for downtown Lexington hotels to about 18 percent.
The council gave unanimous approval to move the project forward. A public hearing on the district is set for December 1.