Tourism, gaming industries get no respect in Washington

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Gaming and tourism are major contributors to America's economy, but lawmakers on all levels of government tend to lose sight of the fact, industry officials contend.

Trade executives were urged to make their economic clout known during the 13th annual Governor's Conference on Travel and Tourism, which concluded Tuesday at Caesars Palace.

Workshops Tuesday included issues such as casino marketing, Nevada as an incentive travel destination and making the most of the global media.

Jonathan Tisch, chief executive officer of Loews Hotels and incoming president of the American Hotel and Motel Association, told the conference Monday the travel industry is a major contributor to America's economy.

"We know full well our contributions to the social economic fabric of this country," Tisch said.

But, he added, "Policy makers don't view us as an economic generator. They view us as a cash cow."

Some 11 million American workers are reliant on travel and tourism for their jobs, Tisch said. But he argued that New York City lawmakers apparently did not consider the importance of tourism in their economy when they imposed a 5 percent tax on hotel rooms costing more than $100 per night in the early 1990s. The city's tourism industry was badly damaged before the tax was repealed in 1994, Tisch said.

Former U.S. Rep. James Santini of Nevada told the conference the Las Vegas area's economy will suffer if politicians impose new rules governing flights over Arizona's Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon tours out of Las Vegas are "a vital attraction to the international traveler," said Santini, displaying six brochures on canyon tours he picked up at Caesars. "Las Vegas-Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon-Las Vegas is synonymous to the Japanese visitor."

The canyon tours are a major industry in Southern Nevada, and the Clinton administration is considering imposing tough new guidelines on such flights.

Frank Fahrenkopf, chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, said the gaming industry has a particularly difficult time making itself heard in Washington, D.C.

Fahrenkopf, the gaming industry's chief lobbyist, said Nevada's congressional delegation is often alone in arguing on behalf of the industry.

Lawmakers from non-gaming states often do not understand that jobs in their districts depend on the gaming industry, Fahrenkopf said. Products such as furniture used in Nevada resorts are manufactured all across the nation, he said.

Fahrenkopf said he wants to establish a database of businesses dependent on gaming to use in arguing that point.

"We have to be in a position to locate the jobs in every congressional district in the country that are created by this industry," Fahrenkopf said. "The gaming industry is 20 to 25 years behind most industries" in its ability to do so.

Despite gaming's poor image in Washington, Fahrenkopf said he expects the industry to be treated fairly, and even benefit, by the work of a commission that will conduct a two-year national study on the social and economic impact of gaming.