Tourism Commission tries to protect funding

By Richard N. Velotta

Friday, March 20, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The Nevada Tourism Commission has offered a budget compromise that proposes a temporary revenue cap on funds generated for the board by the hotel room tax.

Currently, the commission’s office receives three-eighths of 1 percent of the revenue generated by room taxes. But Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proposed budget requires all room tax revenue be handed over to the general fund and the Tourism Commission become a part of the mechanism to lobby for money along with other departments.

The commission’s compromise suggests a $12 million cap on revenue for the agency with the rest going to the general fund. It also suggests a “sunset clause” that would return the state to the existing funding plan at the end of the 2010-11 biennium.

Commissioners unanimously approved the recommendation in a telephone meeting March 16, and a letter was sent the same day to lawmakers, who are starting to deliberate Gibbons’ budget.

The commission also reemphasized its opposition to a proposal that would merge the Tourism Commission with the Economic Development Commission. The Tourism Commission recently submitted three names to the governor’s office, and by law, he must choose a tourism director from among those names. But if the commissions are merged, there may be no need to hire a director.

“Now is not the time to diminish tourism promotion in a state so highly dependent on tourism,” the letter says. “The level of funding proposed in the executive budget will severely diminish Nevada’s presence in the travel and tourism market. While Reno and Las Vegas can rely on outside entities to continue some outreach on behalf of their communities, rural Nevada relies heavily on NCOT to promote their regions as a visitor destination.

“This plan would provide the agency with significantly reduced funding from its current level, but allow NCOT to maintain a competitive position in the marketplace until this economic hurdle is cleared,” the letter says.

The decision came two days before several state tourism leaders gathered in Carson City for a summit sponsored by Save Nevada Tourism, a Carson City-based grass-roots organization of tour attractions. A day after the summit, some key legislative hearings were scheduled on matters pertaining to the industry.

The Tourism Commission opposes the proposed merger of two commissions as a cost-cutting measure.

“The purposes and audiences of the two commissions are vastly different,” the Tourism Commission’s letter says. “While NCOT draws visitors who spend money and leave, NCED attracts businesses that invest and stay. Finding a single director with sufficient expertise in both arenas, as proposed in the executive budget, is highly improbable and the savings from merging the agencies are marginal. In this time of unprecedented economic pressure, we believe it is essential that these two revenue-generating agencies continue to do their jobs as they have for 25 years, pursuing their separate goals and missions for the benefit of Nevada’s economy and to provide them the resources needed to do so. It would be unwise to disrupt the activities of either one.”

Commissioners also discussed sending letters to federal lawmakers and President Barack Obama to educate them about the importance of tourism to Nevada’s economy.

“This is a message we have to keep repeating,” said Las Vegas-based Commissioner Chuck Bowling, an MGM Mirage executive. “They need to tone down the criticism of meetings and understand that travel is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

“This isn’t going to be a one-punch fight,” he said.