From Deseret News archives:
Tourism-funding bill now up to the House
The House Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Standing Committee unanimously passed out SB7, which would create a tourism marketing performance fund that would receive $55 million in general fund money over a decade and ultimately would be self-supporting.
The bill would get an initial $10 million from the general fund to help the state promote tourism to out-of-staters, and that amount would drop by $1 million a year. But the fund also would receive a percentage of tourism-generated sales tax money in later years, up to $3 million annually. The bill also creates and funds a cooperative program with cities, counties and nonprofit organizations to advertise and promote tourism.
Tourism-promotion bills have died the past two years because of disagreements in the industry about the taxing methods, but SB7 has "wide and deep" support, according to Nan Anderson, director of the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition. More than 40 organizations back the bill, she said.
Supporters on Friday said the state needs to act in order to reverse a loss in tourism market share to surrounding states in recent years. Utah state government spends $900,000 annually on advertising to out-of-staters, although counties do some promotion through car-rental and restaurant taxes, and ski resorts and Ski Utah also spend several million dollars annually on promotion.
"To have the budget of Vail, Colo., summer promotion only to promote the state for the entire year, it makes it very hard to be competitive and certainly plays into our market share losses," said Leigh von der Esch, interim deputy director of the Utah Travel Council and director of the Utah Film Commission.
Randy Harmsen, chairman of the Utah Travel Development Board, noted that many outsiders before the 2002 Olympic Winter Games had negative perceptions about Utah but thought positively about Colorado. The Olympics flip-flopped that, but since then the perceptions have reverted to pre-Olympics status.
"This," Harmsen said of SB7, "is a critical economic stimulus bill."
Several senators also praised the bill.
Comments
- Pittsburgh letters are art project 3:07 p.m.
- Still believes in mammograms at 40 3:03 p.m.
- GE, Vivendi deal paves way for sale 3:02 p.m.
- Sundance unveils 2010 lineup 2:59 p.m.
- Mom objects to teen spending frenzy 2:56 p.m.
- Holiday gift lists shrink 2:48 p.m.
- Cat adoptions increase in '09 2:47 p.m.
- New health science facility in Ogden 2:47 p.m.
- My big, fat Pakistani Thanksgiving 2:44 p.m.
- Blog: Bowled over by bowling 2:43 p.m.
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
- Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
- Utahns growing tired of Bennett
- BCS just keeps dirty laundry on spin
- Witness: Mitchell wanted attention
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Orem pair getting a rep for crime
- Teen girl killed in Kaysville crash
- Simple candies for the holidays
- Woods says he let family down
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
909 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
483 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
404 - Max Hall issues apology
388 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
357 - Utes won't respond to Hall
276 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
241 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
169 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
169 - Religion in politics is tiresome
150
Sen. Scott Jenkins was name-checked by Jay Leno Monday night during his...
I love how Max Hall said that everything about the U of U was classless, but...
Great job to Shelby, Sara, Taylor, and Nikita! Great season!
It's because Max Hall has already been forgotten by BYU. He'll play in a...
Not to be gross or anything, it would have been nice to see what this type of...
This whole thing is being blown out of proportion. All he was doing was...
The Media can help by not spewing the gargage the week before the game! Both...
He means the state of Pennsylvania as in high school wrestling progams for...
Sure, he can have Austin Collie and a QB who still plays terrible against...
It should not be called marriage. It's a farce and a slap in the face to...
My theroy for this is that cats are smaller, need less room, can fend for...



You can be the first to comment on this story.