Tourism marketing funding in jeopardy

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March 15, 2010

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Mon Mar 15, 2010, 11:28 PM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — Efforts to draw tourists to the Adirondack region face an uphill battle due to two proposals in the 2010 New York state budget.

Ron Ofner, executive director of the Adirondack Regional Tourism Center, said the organization received word from Empire State Development Corp. that matching grant funding from the I Love NY program included in the 2009 and 2010 state budgets would not be awarded.

"That's going to reduce our funding by half, if not more," Ofner said.

In 2009, the Tourism Council received $479,244 in matching funds included in the 2008 state budget. The counties matched that amount and were able to spend more than $958,488 to promote the region.

The funding is approved by the State Legislature but administered by Empire State Development.

Neil Seymour, director of Franklin County Tourism, said the Adirondack region is the area most dependent on tourism for employment. He said in most areas of the state, tourism accounts for 7 percent of employment, but that figure averages about 12 percent in the Adirondacks and can be closer to 40 percent for places such as Hamilton County.

Another proposal calls for the Gateway Welcome Center on Interstate 87 in Beekmantown and another one in Binghamton to close. Seymour said each center received $196,000 in state funding last year.

The contract for the Beekmantown Center runs out at the end of March, he said, at which time it would close.

"That's (Beekmantown) going to eliminate the first touch point Canadian visitors have in New York state," Ofner said.

Ofner said the closure is a double whammy because it also houses the organization's offices.

The center had more than 100,000 walk-in visitors last year and about 195,000 brochures are handed out annually. The four full-time and one part-time Welcome Center staff members answered more than 7,500 phone calls and mailed more than 50,000 tourism guides.

He understands the state is in financial trouble and needs to reduce costs. It also needs to increase revenue, Ofner said.

That makes the two proposals especially puzzling, he said, as tourism helps create revenue for the state through sales tax.

"We see tourism as a very strong avenue to bring the state out of its financial crisis," he said.

Seymour cited statistics that for every dollar the state spent on tourism marketing there is a $7 return to the state's coffers.

"It's really mind boggling they would cut a program that is actually a revenue producer," he said.

The members of the Tourism Council are Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis and part of St. Lawrence counties. Seymour said the Tourism Council was formed to pool the matching funding they received from the state to promote the Adirondacks as a region.

Seymour said the matching funds were the reason the council was created.

"If there's no matching funds money, it puts our existence in question," he said.

Ofner said State Sen. Betty Little is the ranking Republican on the Senate Tourism Commission and State Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward is a member of the Assembly Tourism Commission.

"Our local delegation has been very understanding and supportive," he said.

In a press release, Little said tourism promotion has always proven to be a good investment with strong returns, and especially important to Adirondack communities.

"Obviously given the state's severe economic crisis, tough choices need to be made, but to cut funding that is actually proven to stimulate economic activity and generate revenue not only for business and local government, but also state government, seems to be the wrong approach," she said.

Sayward said tourism is the economic engine of the North Country, and its small businesses depend on tourist dollars to survive.

"Businesses within the blue line are already faced with unique challenges due to their location," she said. "We must look for ways to partner with the private sector to keep all of our venues open and do what we can to keep matching grant funds in the budget."

E-mail Dan Heath at: dheath@pressrepublican.com