WA tourism office closure

New York Times (7/11):

A Tourism Office Falls Victim to Hard Times
By WILLIAM YARDLEY

"SEATTLE — An alluring billboard beckoned to motorists on a busy industrial corridor here this spring. It displayed just one image, a panoramic view of a valley and mountains and sunshine, and one word, “Montana.”

Who paid for that advertisement? The State of Montana, naturally, out of money it designated for tourism marketing this year.

“They’ve done a great job, and they’re incredibly visible,” said Tom Norwalk, the president and chief executive of Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’re not doing that. We’re going to be fortunate in the next six months to be able to maintain a Web site.” " ...

"This month, as a result of wide-ranging budget cuts passed this year by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Washington became the only state in the nation with no statewide tourism office and no state money to promote itself to travelers.

The cut has been attributed purely to having to make tough choices between financing programs like public education and paying for glossy marketing
campaigns." ...

"“Our lesson to Washington is that it’s been 18 years since we went dark in 1993, and we still haven’t gotten back to the national market share we had,” said Al White, head of the Colorado Tourism Office, which lost all financing in 1993 and did not regain a steady revenue stream until 2000." ...

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