DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — The City of Dothan has extended the deadline for short-term rentals by a month. From March 4th to April 4th.

In October, the Dothan City Commission approved the regulations for short-term rentals, such as the distance of the rentals from each other and prohibiting the rentals from being in certain areas of the city.

The month extension gives the rentals time to register and license pre-existing locations.

Originally the city gave these properties 90 days to apply and each property owner was required to get a $100 business license, but the city extended the date to give them more time to register.

City officials say about 50 short-term rentals have registered and have the proper license, but they believe there are nearly 50 more who to do the necessary paperwork.

“We are aware that several weren’t able to make that deadline and so we want to extend that opportunity forward,” Dothan City Manager, Kevin Cowper said.

Short-term rentals that are located in a residential zoning district, will require special zoning approval before a license may be acquired.

If a short-term rental still needs to apply they can visit the city’s website.

This is just one of the ways the Circle City is preparing for a rise in tourists in 20-23.

In 2022, Dothan hosted 65 sporting tournaments that welcomed 46,000 participants from outside of Dothan.

Visit Dothan says that visitors spent $15 million in 2022 and that the weekend has really been driving the tourism business for the city.

Since 2018 tourism has gone up nearly $10 million and the $15 million dollars in record spending is expected to be broken this year.

So far Visit Dothan has already scheduled 50 events coming to the Circle City, with one of those events kicking off this weekend.

That event is the Visit Dothan Invitational Softball Tournament which will welcome teams from all over the region and will run from Friday through Sunday.