Utah tourism may get a boost

Senators gave preliminary approval Thursday to spending $10 million to promote Utah tourism to help make up for what the bill's sponsor called a "wasted opportunity" to capitalize on the 2002 Winter Games.

"We've fallen behind substantially over the last couple of years," said the sponsor of SB7, Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City. "We've put very little money into it since the Olympics."

Senate Majority Leader Pete Knudsen, R-Brigham City, said Colorado is referring to the Salt Lake Games in its advertising, urging visitors to come to "the Rocky Mountains, home of the 2002 Olympics."

Knudsen said while that's fair game, Utah has been "slow in catching on. We need to provide funding (for tourism promotion) to benefit our state."

While the bill calls for the same amount of money that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants for travel promotion, the governor has not signed off on the bill, according to his chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz.

The bill, which was approved 27-0-2, now goes to the Senate for a final vote.