New funding will help state grab more tourism dollars

CEDAR CITY — After years of being battered, beaten and left by the wayside to pick up scraps left behind by other states, come July 1, Utah will charge headlong into the battle for tourism dollars with new life.

That message was delivered loud and clear this week to those attending the Utah Tourism Conference in Cedar City.

A record number of people turned out for the conference, and "there was more excitement than I've seen in a long, long time," said Nan Groves Anderson, executive director of the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition.

"Yes, there is more excitement now we have competitive money to showcase what we've all come to recognize as our great natural resources and gems, which we haven't been able to do in the past," said Leigh von der Esch, Utah Office of Tourism.

"Give credit to the tourism community that worked so hard getting the message out about the importance of tourism to Utah."

For years, those involved in tourism have been trying to get the message out that Utah does, indeed, have a lot to offer visitors.

That message was muffled by the lack of adequate funding and support at the highest level.

Utah's annual tourism budget under the administration of former Gov. Mike Leavitt was $3.9 million, of which only $900,000 could be spent on advertising. By comparison, Colorado's budget was $16 million. Utah's tourism budget, in fact, was the lowest in the Intermountain West and about one third that of surrounding states such as Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

With support from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and this year's Legislature, a new bill will go into effect on July 1 that will put $10 million toward Utah tourism for the fiscal year.

"We missed a huge opportunity with the Olympics, but in the years since the Olympics we've had the opportunity to bring the industry together," said Anderson.

"And, it's taken that long to increase awareness of tourism as a part of economic development with elected local officials and Legislators."

The banding together and the push forward, "which can only go up from here," are reasons to be excited about the future of tourism in Utah, she added.

The additional money will allow Utah to become a competitive player and to become more aggressive in its approach to marketing the state.

"We will be doing research to find out what are the best ways of attracting visitors who will spend more money than they are currently spending. Our goal is to service the visitors properly and provide such a fabulous product while they are here that they will want to return," she said.

Those attending the conference, which was put on by the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition and the Utah Office of Tourism, consisted of private, state and industry representatives.