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Tourism promoters anticipate signature

Owens expects to OK $19 million funding bill

Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 4, 2006 at midnight

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Tourism supporters gathered on the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday to cheer the expected passage of a bill that would boost Colorado's budget for touting itself as a vacation destination.

Gov. Bill Owens told the crowd he would be signing legislation "in the next few days" that commits $19 million a year to tourism promotion.

"We're going to be helping encourage more people to come to Colorado," Owens said.

Sen. Jack Taylor, a Steamboat Springs Republican and a champion of boosting tourism coffers, said the extra money would put the state "in the big leagues of tourism" by allowing the state to begin advertising again in national and international markets.

But he cautioned that the money be spent "properly" and that tourism officials track its impact on visits.

"The legislature can take it (the annual funding) away," Taylor said. "We want to make sure that doesn't happen."

Taylor and Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, have spent several years trying to convince fellow lawmakers that more money will bring more tourists and a boost to the state's economy.

"What a difference a year makes," White said of the current legislation's swift movement this session through both the House and the Senate.

With $5 million in annual funding now, the state's tourism budget puts Colorado in 35th place for spending. It ranks about 23rd among states for the number of visitors it attracts each year.

If lawmakers approve a $19 million budget, Colorado Tourism Office Board Chairman Pete Meersman said to expect Colorado to move quickly into the top 20 states for tourist visits.

"The end result of how we spend the money is that we move the needle," said John Schafer, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center.

Added the University of Denver's Eugene Dilbeck: "The pressure's on."

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