The Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council (TDC) was established by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in 1981. In 1982, Palm Beach County enacted its first tourist tax and created a Tourist Development Plan for spending the revenues generated by the tax. The tourist tax, commonly known as the “bed tax,” is levied on lodging room nights in the County for a term of six months or less.

Discover Palm Beach County, the original name of what is now known as Discover The Palm Beaches, was formed in 1983 as a nonprofit entity. One of the original marketing and advertising statements created in this time was Palm Beach County, Florida The Best of Everything. DTPB continues to operate today under a contract with Palm Beach County to provide tourism marketing services under the County’s Tourist Development Plan and receives funding from a portion of the “bed tax” collected in the County. DTPB’s Board of Directors provides supervision over DTPB affairs.

Discover The Palm Beaches is only one of the non-profit tourism organizations acting under contract to the County. The Tourist Development Council whose responsibility is contract oversight of the agencies funded by the “bed tax,” also acts as a liaison between the agencies and the Board of County Commissioners. The other agencies under the umbrella of the TDC are the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Film & Television Commission, and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.