Tourism measure has its detractors

Advertising Utah to out-of-state tourists would get a $55 million boost over the next decade under a bill passed out by a legislative committee on Wednesday.

But the measure attracted criticism from some legislators worried that some regions of the state will not get representation under a reconfigured Board of Travel Development.

The bill would provide $55 million over a 10-year period to help the state promote tourist destinations to out-of-staters. It would start with $10 million for the 2005-06 fiscal year and drop by $1 million annually.

But a few members of the Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Interim Committee do not like the board membership structure — an issue that had not arisen during previous committee meetings.

Rep. Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley, in particular worried that Salt Lake County would not have a representative on the board, also known as the Utah Travel Council.

"Salt Lake could be locked out," Goodfellow said prior to being the only legislator to vote against the bill.

Other lawmakers suggested different language regarding the board membership, but some found fault with those proposals because they would eliminate or dilute representation from their particular regions of the state.

Rep. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, said he did not want the board membership issue to put the entire bill at risk. While he said he would like to see Salt Lake County represented on the board, "we have to, at times, look at what's best for the state as a whole rather than geographical consideration."

Although it became a committee bill Wednesday, the bill faces an uncertain future because of its price tag.

"We've not been able to identify a funding source for this, so when we get into the budgeting portion of our meetings this year, we're just going to have to fight for our portion," said Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City and co-chairman of the committee. "I realize it's going to be a tough fight, but we haven't found any other way."

Jenkins said both gubernatorial candidates said they would support tourism funding, "so we will hold them to task."

Travel council research indicates that tourism promotion pays off, with the state getting an $8.64 return through increased tourist spending for every dollar spent on promotion.