Utah's tourism board still wants to boost some taxes in order to funnel more money into advertising the state to outsiders, but the group is acknowledging that it may need to ask for less than it originally sought.
The Utah Division of Travel Development board is interested in raising a few taxes to create a $20 million fund for advertising, but board members said during a meeting Friday that a lower figure is politically more realistic.
The money would be used to market the state to potential visitors, capitalizing on the after-effects of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
"I guess I would state categorically that I'd rather have a $10 (million) or $11 million fund than no fund, because I think it is absolutely imperative that the state not lose another percent in market share and we start turning it around," board chairman Randy Harmsen said.
Tourism officials are concerned that some nearby states have increased their tourism ad spending. They tout ads as effective, with at least a 4-to-1 return through various taxes resulting from tourist spending.
"If we don't get more reach and frequency, we're not going to win," Harmsen said.
He said legislative leadership has encouraged the board to wait until the upcoming regular session to bring up the matter. A draft bill has left intact some provisions of an earlier fund proposal, including a 0.5 percent hotel room tax and a 0.25 percent restaurant tax.
But some sticking points remain, most notably a proposed reallocation of the state car-rental tax from the Utah Department of Transportation to the travel advertising fund. Members of the Wasatch Front Regional Council have criticized that proposal, saying UDOT needs the money to buy critical highway corridor property across the Wasatch Front for future road projects.
Other provisions in the draft call for the fund to sunset after eight years and for 20 percent of fund money to go to cooperatives such as counties, cities and other public agencies to advertise to out-of-staters.
"It may not be as attractive to one segment or another as it once may have been, but I think we're getting closer to a substantial support by individuals and organizations that will lend support to it," Harmsen said.
The Legislature's Workforce Services and Community and Economic Development Interim Committee is scheduled to discuss the matter Wednesday.
Board members said a bill seeking something less than $20 million may be more palatable. Gayle Stevenson compared it to a saying, "If you can't get a meal, get a sandwich." "We need to go after that sandwich pretty hard," he said.
"It feels good, it makes sense and I think people will support it," Terry Porter said of the revised proposal.
Harmsen said Utah must strike while the Olympics are fresh in potential visitors' minds but before the next Olympics take place.
"We've had people say, 'Let's wait a year.' And my answer to them is, 'Why?' My concern is that we still have a year to talk about the Olympics. Once the cauldron is lit in Athens, I don't think that's a story that runs anymore," he said.
"We have learned that the Olympic afterglow is dimming. . . . People are thinking less and less about us."
If travel officials get no more funding, they will need to take $1 million in ad spending, "pick one market and roll the dice," Harmsen said. "We'd have to pick one market and hope we pick the right one. So it increases our risk dramatically."
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com