Juneau -- The Alaska House of Representatives Friday passed House Bill 420, sponsored by the House Finance Committee.

Senate Bill 107 (passed last year) eliminated the Tourism Marketing Association, calling, instead, for a contract with a single qualified trade organization for planning and executing a destination tourism marketing campaign. HB 420 moves-up the date that the Department of Community and Economic Development must enter into that contract from August 1 to May 1.

"HB 420 makes a change to legislation enacted last year that implements the New Millennium Plan to consolidate tourism marketing activities performed by the State of Alaska," said Representative Gene Therriault (R-North Pole), Co-Chair of the House Finance Committee. "This change is necessary to provide time to prepare a complete marketing plan. In addition, the lead time necessary for the production of print advertising for a campaign on this scale can be as long as 6-8 months.

"We also want to time the negotiations between the trade association and the State so that small tourism-related businesses can participate in the process," Therriault said. The current date of August 1st would require participation during the months of June and July, which is the height of the tourism season.

"In addition, the new date falls before the end of the Legislative session," Therriault said. "This will enable the Legislature to see the final product before appropriating significant resources to the effort."

HB 420 passed the House 31-4.

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= Gene Therriault, 127 K