Web posted
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tourism funding could grow in Kansas
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA -- A task force wants the state to triple its spending on promoting tourism, but Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has proposed cutting the budget for the tourism division.
The Kansas Tourism Initiative is proposing that the state spend $15 million a year on promoting tourism. The current budget of the state's Division of Travel and Tourism is about $4.1 million.
The tourism task force also wants to take the division out of the Department of Commerce. Its plan would make the division a separate agency, with a board appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.
''We're not a state with mountains or beaches, but the fact is we really do have a lot to offer,'' Judy Billings, director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and a member of the tourism initiative, told the Lawrence Journal-World.
But Sebelius opposes such a change for tourism.
''Because it is closely tied to economic and community development, we believe the state is best served by keeping the Travel and Tourism Division within the Department of Commerce,'' her office said in a statement.
Sebelius also is proposing to reduce the division's budget by nearly 17 percent during the fiscal year beginning July 1, to about $3.4 million.
If legislators adopt her recommendations, the division would receive its smallest budget in 15 years. In fiscal year 1993, the budget was just under $3.4 million.
Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran didn't have a response Monday when asked about the proposed changes in the division's budget.
Kansas ranks 44th in the nation and spends less than half the average spent by other ''Heartland'' states, according to the Kansas Tourism Initiative. Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska spend more than Kansas, while Iowa and North Dakota spend less, the group said.
''We need a bigger effort in marketing the state,'' said Sen. Nick Jordan, a Shawnee Republican who was a member of the initiative. ''The state has not taken the industry as seriously as you need to take it, and we are not competing with our surrounding states in our marketing efforts and product development.''
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On the Net:
Division of Travel and Tourism: http://www.kansascommerce.com/IndexPages/Div05a.aspx
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