States and CVB’s taking divergent paths to lure visitors

The state of Washington, which in April announced a new “Share Your Washington” campaign to attract tourists, this week pulled the plug on any advertising and became the only US state that will spend nothing on future visitor efforts.

“The transition is the most extreme example of the widely varying strategies among states trying to balance budget cuts with ways to spur economic growth,” says the AP.

Some states and other tourism agencies are going to extremes by spending new money for marketing campaigns, while others are cutting their promotional budgets.

On the other extreme, the city of Los Angeles has taken what it calls “a major step forward with the creation of a new tourism marketing district that will generate needed funds to more aggressively promote the city as a premiere travel destination.”

The recent vote by the Los Angeles City Council creates a citywide Tourism Marketing District (TMD), a sustainable new funding stream that is projected to yield an estimated US$11 million a year to market Los Angeles to business and leisure travelers.

The TMD will be funded entirely by hotel visitors through a 1.5 percent assessment at mid-sized and large hotels in the city and will be administered by LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Said LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa:

“This new Tourism Marketing District is a smart, strategic, and non-tax investment that will support new and existing jobs and provide crucial resources to market LA and attract more visitors to our city,” he said.

Los Angeles spent roughly $11 million on sales and marketing in 2010, less than half the amount spent by other large cities in California and approximately one-eighth of Las Vegas’ marketing budget.  

Washington State went in another direction.

"What Washington has done puts that state on an island," said Geoff Freeman, executive vice president of the US Travel Association. "No state at this point in time has been, with all due respect to Washington, as short-sighted as those leaders have been."

Washington's tourism spending dropped in recent years from about $7 million annually to about $2 million annually, according to the AP.

The “Share Your Washington” campaign included a sweepstakes to win prizes for a free visit.

While about half of states are shrinking their marketing budgets, the other half are increasing them, according to the US Travel Association.

The state of Michigan, for example, has boosted its state-funded promotional spending from about $5 million per year in 2005 to $25 million per year now.

The state is in the middle of its largest national advertising buy — spending more than $11 million to splash its "Pure Michigan" message.

George Zimmermann, vice president for Travel Michigan, said their research indicates that a dollar spent on out-of-state advertising returns $3.29 cents in tax money alone — and much more for businesses.

The only other state that comes close to Washington's cuts during the recession is Connecticut. The state eliminated its tourism budget for two years but maintained its staff.

Connecticut is now quickly reversing itself  —  a new budget is restoring US$15 million to the program.

Washington's tourism industry is the state's fourth largest, and visitors to the state spent some $15.2 billion in 2010, according to state figures

By David Wilkening