An Act relating to tourism and tourism marketing; eliminating the Alaska Tourism Marketing Council; and providing for an effective date.

House Bill 136 is based on a plan brought forward by the tourism industry and is similar to legislation sponsored last session by the House and Senate Finance Committees. It consolidates the state's tourism marketing efforts, reduces the size and functions of the Division of Tourism, and allows the state to reduce its contribution to tourism marketing over time.

Currently, Alaska's statewide tourism marketing efforts are carried out by three organizations-the Alaska Tourism Marketing Council, the Alaska Visitors Association, and the Division of Tourism. These efforts will be consolidated into a single marketing function that is broadly representative of the various sectors of the visitor industry in the state. This organization will put together a marketing program to address media advertising, visitor inquiries, publishing and distributing information regarding vacation planning, and establishing and maintaining Internet sites that provide tourism information.

The Division of Tourism will provide inquiry assistance, administer visitor information centers, and plan and advocate for tourism and tourism development in coordination with the private sector, municipalities, and state and federal agencies. They will enter into a contract with a single, qualified trade organization for the purpose of planning and executing the state's destination tourism marketing campaign. The contract may include promotion of distinct segments of tourism, such as highway, seasonal, cultural, regional, rural, and ecotourism. This will take the state out of the business of marketing and reduce the number of employees required to carry out the functions of the division.

A central feature of the contract is that the organization awarded it will be required to match the state's effort with 30% of its own money. It is expected that the organization will grow and its membership collections increase. Therefore, the match will rise to 60% in 2002. The benefits of this are twofold: first, the state will be able to reduce its contribution without doing extreme harm to the industry; second, the private sector will contribute more of its own funds towards the marketing efforts they benefit from.

The industry is coming forward with more of its own dollars. Coupled with efficiencies provided by consolidation, the marketing efforts to bring more visitors to the state will be more effective. This is a responsible approach to reduce the state's monetary contribution without harming the growth of the industry.