Despite a looming budget battle over state funding for tourism, optimism was the theme of the day earlier this week at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
The annual event is a celebration of all the state’s attractions and brings together professionals from across Connecticut’s tourism industry—including hotels, restaurants, casinos, tourist attractions, entertainment venues, historic sites, and cultural and arts institutions—to share best practices and insights from national and state tourism and travel experts.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spoke at the beginning of the event and touted the way the state’s marketing efforts have boosted tourism, but then largely avoided specifics on the elephant in the room of how budget negotiations might affect the state’s ability to promote tourism. "We want to make sure we're spending our money wisely,” Malloy said. Pointing out that the state’s tourism and hospitality industries have added at least 5,000 jobs in the past five years, he said, “This is a $14 billion industry and you’ve got to put some money back in.”
However, one way or another, budget cuts are on the way.
As the Associated Press reports: “Malloy has made tourism and marketing of Connecticut a priority, but he has proposed cutting spending on tourism marketing to $10 million from $12 million as part of an overall effort to reduce spending. He's also proposed spending cuts for state parks, social services, libraries and other popular programs as the state faces a projected $2.5 billion deficit in the two-year budget.”
In an interview with Connecticut Magazine shortly after Malloy’s speech, Randy Fiveash, director of the Connecticut Office of Tourism, said he’s optimistic the proposed $10 million in marketing spending would be passed. “The Governor’s been extremely supportive,” he said. “We’re going through some tough budget years, but we’re hopeful it will stay in the budget.”
The state is continuing to promote the Still Revolutionary Campaign which launched in 2012 Fiveash (right) said the campaign is constantly evolving and “shows off what we have to see here and do.” He added that his department is trying to encourage overnight stays in Connecticut—from out-of-state and in-state travelers—by marketing an “integrated experience” and convincing tourists that there is enough to do in a given area to warrant an overnight stay.
The Office of Tourism is also helping to facilitate the collaboration between members of the same industry to create a variety of travel “trails” such as the Wine Trail, the Antiques Trail, or the burgeoning Beer Trail. “It’s all about partnerships,” Fiveash said, likening the ways these seemingly competing businesses can help one another to a shopping mall, where all the retailers are competing with one another but by working together can attract more customers.
Fiveash said that the Office of Tourism is always looking to collaborate with Connecticut businesses and encouraged tourism-related businesses to reach out. “They just need to let us know they want to get involved and there are various ways they can participate with us,” he said.
Source: connecticutmag.com