It's as if none of Ohio's political leaders has read the landmark Longwoods International study of what happens when you shut down a State Tourism Department. Or, they don't believe it.
Because, when Colorado went down that road in the early 90s, it cost the State hundreds of millions of dollars in forfeited tax revenue and thousands of jobs.
But that's the same path the political leadership in Ohio has charted with a budget proposal that would slash the Tourism Budget by 90% in FY10 and eliminate all funding by FY11.
Once again, for those that are hard of hearing. Tourism promotion is not an expense...it is a revenue generator. You want more tax dollars? Promote your Destination to people that will spend money with you.
As Ken McGill (EVP of IHS Global Insight) said earlier this year: "Cutting public tourism promotion in the name of reducing a budget deficit is a risky proposition, at best. It would take a surprisingly small loss in visitation to entirely negate any budget savings."
I think I've come to the conclusion that we need to be governed by professionals...not just people who speak well and look good on TV. 'Cause they clearly don't know what they're doing.
And, in the end, it's we that pay the price for their ineptitude.
It's getting to be a pretty high price too.
Posted by: Randy | July 01, 2009 at 10:16