Isles pitch for Tourism officials from the western states, including Hawaii, meet in the nation's capital this week to make the case for allowing the states, not the federal government, to spend a new $50 million fund set up to encourage foreign travel to the United States.
tourism funds
The state wants to corner its
share of a new $50 million federal
tourism-promotion budgetBy Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.comThe states, represented by the Western States Tourism Policy Council, think it makes more sense to advertise specific destinations, such as New York City, Hawaii or Las Vegas, than to offer a broad plea for visitors to come to America.
Plus, most states already have tourism marketing programs that would be automatically bolstered by a check from the government.
"If we don't make that case then everybody loses," said Frank Haas, tourism marketing director for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The authority, a state agency, has a $56 million annual budget to market Hawaii to travelers.
The new federal fund was created as part of the mammoth U.S. government spending package signed into law last month by President Bush. A provision, pushed by Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, enables Commerce Secretary Don Evans to spend the $50 million on tourism advertising, with consultation from the states and the tourism industry.
Evans must appoint a Travel and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board, consisting of members from the tourism industry, which will recommend how to spend the money. The law vaguely specifies that the marketing funds must be used to promote "travel to the United States."
If the Commerce Department agrees that money should go to the states, Hawaii plans to argue that each state should receive an amount proportional to its level of tourism activity, Haas said.
Of the 50 states, Hawaii received the fourth-largest amount of spending by international travelers in 2000, beaten only by Florida, California and New York, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.
Any federal money that comes to Hawaii would probably go toward advertising the isles to the Japanese, Haas said. About 1.49 million Japanese visitors came to the isles last year, a 20 percent drop from 2000.
Funds may also go toward places of the world that send a relatively small number of visitors to Hawaii each year, but where there is potential for growth.
Hawaii funds for those markets were cut this year.
The Western States Tourism Policy Council plans to meet tomorrow in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Follow-up meetings will also be held.
Western States Tourism Policy Council
Hawaii Tourism Authority