NEWPORT BEACH

Tourism accounted for more than $21 million in revenue during the last fiscal year, the most ever for Newport Beach, said Rosalind Williams of the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau. Seventy percent of tax dollars from merchandise sold and 60% of sales tax from restaurants came from the pocketbooks of tourists in the fiscal year that ended July 1, she said.

The money is earmarked for the city’s general fund. “We were able to achieve this with a relatively small marketing budget of $1.1 million,” Williams said. At the bureau’s annual board of directors dinner last week, new members were introduced and awards were presented to those who have given extensive time and efforts to support the bureau.

Bill Hamilton of the Cannery restaurant in Cannery Village received a special award for his service to the bureau. Mehdi Eftekari, general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, was named the board’s new chairman.