Broward tourism director Nicki Grossman warned Thursday that 2009 could bring the county's vacation industry more challenges than it has ever faced.

In a speech to tourism executives, Grossman announced a 25 percent increase in marketing dollars for the fall and winter to combat fallout from the recent Wall Street meltdown. She predicted what could be the county's first yearly decline in hotel taxes as travelers cut back on spending.

And she said she wants to tap into reserves from the recent boom years to patch $4 million into possible budget gaps caused by declining tax collections from tourists.

''It's a rainy-day fund, and it's raining,'' said Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, a county agency. ``We are in the midst of some very serious economic times.''

If accurate, her grim outlook signals a major shift for South Florida's tourism industry, which has grown despite slowing consumer spending and a depressed housing market.

A decline wouldn't surprise analysts, who have watched hotel chains brace themselves for leaner times as corporations rein in business trips and consumers rethink vacation plans. Marriott International on Thursday announced a 28 percent profit drop for the third quarter.

But the region's biggest travel destination, Miami-Dade County, has so far outperformed Broward, thanks largely to Miami and Miami Beach's popularity with foreign travelers.

Executives at the tax-funded Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau said they are ramping up marketing to combat economic woes, but do not predict the hotel-tax decline Grossman does.

''Virtually half of our business is not from the United States,'' said William Talbert III, president of the Greater Miami bureau. ''We're a different destination'' than Fort Lauderdale.

One big help for Miami-Dade: the reopening of the Eden Roc and Fontainebleau resorts after extensive renovations, which will add about 2,000 rooms to the hotel-tax rolls and give a boost to meeting bookings.

Grossman also predicted growth in Broward's meeting business next year, but doesn't think that will be enough to combat a broader travel decline.

Her staff forecasts a 4 percent decrease in hotel tax collections for the fiscal year that began Wednesday -- an annual decline that Grossman said probably would be unprecedented.

In 2007, Broward collected about $43 million in hotel taxes, which funds the tourism bureau, subsidies for the convention center, beach renourishment and debt payments on the county-owned BankAtlantic Center.

County commissioners have eyed the hotel taxes to fund government services as property taxes decline, a move Grossman and tourism leaders are fighting.

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