Reforming Tennessee's Tourism Marketing
South Knox Bubba offers some interesting insights into recent promises by both Van Hilleary and Phil Bredesen to increase funding for tourism marketing efforts if they get elected guv'nah of the great state of Tennessee. He also notes that Florida does just fine with "no income tax, lower business taxes, a lower sales tax, and no sales tax on groceries." A follow-up comment to that: Florida put its tourism marketing arm under quasi-privatized venture co-funded by the state and by tourism businesses, who also help operate the program and benefit from co-op advertising. It is funded by a special tax on rental cars - a tax, it should be noted, paid largely by non-Floridians who travel to the state for business or pleasure. Results have been good - state costs are capped and tourism is up, boosting the economy and state revenue.

I wrote about about Florida's approach to tourism marketing back in late 1999 for the now-defunct newsweekly In Review. Florida levies a $2 per day rental car tax, which generates $22 million a year for Visit Florida. Private-sector tourism businesses can buy a membership in Visit Florida - sort of like paying Chamber of Commerce membership dues - and then participate in running the marketing program. By the end of 1999, more than one in five Florida tourism businesses had joined Visit Florida.

As I reported back then, "Most Florida tourism businesses, especially the small bed-and-breakfasts and attractions that are the majority of the industry, pay just a few hundred dollars a year - but, thanks to the collective efforts of Visit Florida, that money is leveraged into marketing worth millions for the state and around $4,000 for each small tourism business."

This is the kind of new approach Tennessee needs to consider. I think Van Hilleary knows this.