BURLINGTON, VT: Northeast states considering using PR to generate tourism should think twice before asking taxpayers to pick up the tab, according to a recent study.
BURLINGTON, VT: Northeast states considering using PR to generate
tourism should think twice before asking taxpayers to pick up the tab,
according to a recent study.
Residents in Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and New Hampshire are
split on spending tax dollars to promote tourism, according to a recent
Investor Economic Pulse poll conducted by the Stratevest Group, a
Burlington, VT investment-management firm. Fourty-four percent of
respondents from Massachusetts, 52% from New York, 43% from New
Hampshire and 46% from Vermont were in favor of increased state
spending.
’Tourism is very big in our region, and as we were coming into
leaf-peeper season, we wanted to see what people think of tourism and
whether states should offer assistance to the tourism industry,’ said
Stratevest chief economist J. Alan Day. Of the nearly half of
respondents who said their state should not do more to promote tourism,
Day said, ’Maybe states should do more to inform the public as to what
tourism means for the economy of their state in terms of jobs and
revenue.’
Doug Twitchell, executive director of the Adirondack/Speculator Chamber
of Commerce in Speculator, NY, said the survey findings were not
surprising.
’I think people have a difficult time understanding what tourism, via
increased sales-tax dollars, does to reduce taxes,’ he said. ’Tourism is
the third-largest industry in the state of New York, and you should fund
the promotion of the third-largest industry as you would fund promotion
of the largest industry.’
Twitchell is in favor of spending more to promote tourism, suggesting
that with more funding, his group might consider creating a spring
tourism guide, in addition to the summer, winter and fall guides that
the state already produces. He said he’d also like to do more promotions
beyond New England.
However, Mary Jane McKenna, executive director of the Massachusetts
Office of Travel and Tourism in Boston, said that the question is not
relevant for Massachusetts, which funds its tourism promotions through a
portion of its 5.7% hotel-room tax. She also said it is not necessary to
raise the rooms tax. ’So long as the tourism fund continues to grow, I’m
perfectly satisfied with the system,’ said McKenna.
