UPDATE on the Tour Curfew – email exchange with Savannah Association of Local Tours

Fellow DNA members:

Recall that our Mayor Van Johnson had tasked our city’s Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) with working together in a productive dialog (with a neutral mediator facilitating the process) to come to areas of consensus on five topics related to the impact of tourism on our broader community.

Two of the areas were the following:

• Establishing reasonable quiet hours during which certain tourism-related activities would not be permitted

• Defining operating zones and protections for predominately residential areas

Consensus was not reached during those mediation sessions on either of the above topics.

We recently were copied on a letter that the Savannah Association of Local Tours (SALT) sent to our Mayor, City Council, City Manager, members of TAC and members of the press.

In that letter, SALT requested that:

• Mayor and Council “pause the current rush toward new tour restrictions”

• Asserts that the process started with our mayor’s letter of April 22, 2026

• Claims that tourism management was excluded from the process

• Claims that “information being used to justify the new restrictions remains deeply unreliable” (i.e., downtown resident experiences with late-night tourism)

The full letter from SALT may be found Below.

SALT_Ltr.pdf

Download PDF • 1.69MB

Feeling that DNA needed to respond to these assertions, I responded with the letter below.

What is clear to me and your board members representing us on TAC, is that we will be relying on City Council to address the issues that were so clearly expressed in the many emails that downtown residents sent to the mediator engaged to facilitate the discussion on these important topics.

SALT has reached out to us to meet, and, of course, we will meet with them.

We believe that Savannah is at a pivotal crossroads... Late-night tourism in our downtown residential neighborhoods has remained unchecked for over a decade now. The current end time of midnight is simply not reasonable, and we intend to continue to push for change.

My letter in response to SALT’s letter:

Dear Mayor Johnson, Members of Savannah City Council, City Manager Melder, and other valued stakeholders,

I am writing on behalf of the Savannah Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) to respond to the misleading email from the Savannah Association of Local Tours. (SALT). Contrary to what was written, DNA does not believe there is a rush to implement new tour restrictions. This "rush" did not begin with the Mayor's letter of April 22, 2026. 

In fact, it began in 2016—a decade ago. 

That was when discussions began and led to the development and adoption of the 2018 Tourism Management Plan (TMP) by City Council.

Following adoption of the TMP, the City's Office of Special Events, Film, and Tourism created a working group of tour companies and residents to begin addressing residential concerns of noise and large, disruptive nighttime walking tours. Sadly, this working group dissolved in early 2019 and was not restarted despite several requests from the DNA to have it continue. No changes resulted from the multiple meetings that group held. 

Consequently, the issues raised by the TMP were ignored.

In March 2023, the DNA held a member meeting to discuss tour-related issues. As a result of that meeting in April 2023, DNA met with the City Manager to discuss residents' concerns about tourism. In November 2023, DNA presented our concerns to the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC). Since these meetings, the only change was an ordinance to restrict noise from trolleys. Until this year, there had been no follow-up to long-standing resident dissatisfaction. 

To say there is now a rush to implement changes is inaccurate. In fact, it is an attempt to reframe the issue as newly raised and erase the long-standing history of this issue. Changes are long overdue and have been discussed for over a decade.

The DNA also takes issue with the comments about the scheduling of tours. The email is correct in that not all scheduled tours actually occur and are cancelled. However, the writer failed to account for additional tours routinely added due to dynamic scheduling on demand. DNA has documented one such tour, often increasing from seven scheduled evening tours to fifteen actual tours. The numbers do not include the substantial number of private tours that occur as well and are not shown on any publicly available schedule. A true accounting of actual tours is unknown. The DNA counted more than the 152,000 annually scheduled tours of all types that are publicly listed. 

The DNA also takes exception to the comment that the tour companies have "been left out of the room" of any impending, or planned, changes to the tourism ordinance. Members of the DNA met with the SALT Board and expressed our concerns to them when it was formed in 2024. DNA believes SALT will truly represent the interests of the walking tour companies. As has been publicly and sincerely stated many times, DNA does not want to put anyone out of business. We believe tourism companies need to recognize the impact on the community in which they operate and adjust when industry growth progressively places a greater and greater burden on residents. 

With that being said, it must be noted that the tourism industry has 5 members on TAC: (Visit Savannah, Tourism Leadership Council (TLC), Lodging Industry (appointed by Visit Savannah), Motorized Tour (appointed by TLC), and a walking tour representative (appointed by Visit Savannah and TLC.) 

It is, and always has been, the responsibility of the representative members of TAC to keep their constituents informed about the various subjects and issues discussed at TAC.

To say the industry was unaware of residential concerns and "not in the room" is entirely inaccurate. Industry representatives have been involved with and are well aware of DNA’s growing concerns since 2016. Additionally, for the past three years, DNA has made it clear to walking tour companies that we were ready to meet with them and discuss these important matters. With the exception of two or three representatives, walking tour companies have avoided engaging in such meetings. 

I apologize for the long email, but DNA deems the recent email from SALT requires a response. We are not asking to limit tours at 6 pm, but only asking to stop tours in residentially zoned areas at 9 pm. The current end time of Midnight in our city’s residential neighborhoods is simply not reasonable. We believe this can be implemented without companies losing revenue or going out of business. Please do not succumb to these scare tactics.

Thank you. As always, the DNA is ready and willing to meet and discuss these matters. The only thing we require is someone from the other side to be ready and willing as well. So far, avoiding the issue for a decade has not worked….

So yes, we believe the current powerful sense of urgency on the part of City leadership to tackle this issue is entirely appropriate.                                                                                                                         

Paul Cobet

President

Savannah Downtown Neighborhood Association

(314) 575-5632    mobile