A plan is underway to boost tourism in Sacramento's North Natomas neighborhood.

Ever since Sleep Train Arena closed in 2016, there hasn't been much reason for out-of-town tourists to visit the area. But a new idea could turn vacant park land into a major new attraction.

Natomas hotel general manager Safal Mengi says he would like to see more attractions built that bring in visitors from out of town.

"There's not much to do around here, not as much as there should be," he said. "There's so much potential for it."

Right now, the aquatic center in North Natomas Regional Park is the community's top attraction.

Lisa Kaplan represents the area on the city council. She's now looking into creating a new tourism marketing district to build and operate more features in the park.

"I think North Natomas can be an absolute draw," Kaplan said.

There's a lot of undeveloped land left in the park. Decade-old plans show there were supposed to be competition soccer fields, a botanical garden, and an area for skaters and off-road bikes.

"What if we could put a BMX park there? What if that brings in weekend tourism and competitions from BMX bikes? That's a big thing, so why not explore that?" Kaplan said.

People staying in all Sacramento hotels currently pay a 12-percent hotel tax. But Mengi says Natomas doesn't get a lot of benefit from that.

"Downtown is taking a lot of our dollars, and all we're asking is that the money be allocated towards our district that's coming from our district directly," he said.

The new Natomas tourism district could be funded by an additional fee on each hotel bill.

"Maybe a buck a night, 50 cents a night, that could be used solely for modernization and new projects at the regional park," Kaplan said.

It's a potential new money source that could one day turn empty fields into Sacramento's newest tourist destination.

"I don't want to take away from other big things we might be doing in the city, so I'm saying, why can't we do something specific to North Natomas?" Kaplan said.

There's no estimate yet as to how much money a tourism district could generate. The proposal will be considered by a city committee tomorrow morning at Sacramento City Hall.