The Day – State funding in tourism urged by trade leaders, elected officers in southeastern Connecticut

If you had told Senator Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, many years ago that he was taking a few days off to go to Torrington, he would have “probably laughed”. But he remembered spending a few days in the northwest city of Connecticut and saying he had “had a wonderful time.” There are so many things to do in this part of the state and it’s beautiful.

“Staycations are important and we need to be able to market to people who may be tired of being indoors with COVID fatigue and might want to take a day trip to Mystic or a day trip to Hartford and go in a museum, “he said.

He is a from many people in southeast Connecticut and other parts of the state wanting to see the passage from HB 6119, A law on the funding of arts, culture and tourism.

Rep. John-Michael Parker, D-Madison, who is also the executive director of the nonprofit Arts for Learning Connecticut, introduced the bill to increase the percentage of room occupancy tax revenue for the state tourism fund.

Connecticut currently has a 15% tax on hotel room fees, and 10% of the tax is paid into the Tourism Fund. The bill would increase the percentage from 10% to 25%.

Legislation would also require that 40% of the Tourism Fund’s money be used for Arts and Culture, while 60% is used for tourism, and that the fund’s name be changed to Arts, Culture and Tourism Fund.

The Connecticut General Assembly Trade Committee held a public hearing Thursday on this and other bills.

Formica, which founded the state tourism caucus, said the fund generated around $ 13 million last year. $ 4.6 million went to national tourism marketing and the remainder to venues such as museums and theaters.

Two points kept cropping up as elected officials and people from the arts, culture, and tourism sectors advocated an increase in funding: Studies show that for every dollar it spends on tourism marketing, the state receives $ 3 in tax revenue and Connecticut does not comply with the neighboring states when it comes to tourism marketing.

“If you look at it holistically, investing in tourism is probably the best investment you can make right now, and our state is unfortunately not competitive with our surrounding states,” said Senator Heather Somers, R-Groton. She added, “It’s an investment; it’s not an expense.”

She supports increasing the Tourism Fund allocation from the room occupancy tax to 25%, but made it clear that she is not in favor of the hotel tax hike as it is one of the highest in the nation and she believes an increase would deter the tax from doing so to come to Connecticut.

Several people from Somers’ district testified in support of the bill.

“There are many options for tourists across New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and more needs to be done to keep tourist money in our state,” said Bruce Flax, interim director of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce.

Dan McFadden, director of communications for the Mystic Seaport Museum, said New York and Massachusetts are “very expensive markets to buy advertisements to bring here, and we need state help to make that happen. We are nonprofit, and we don’t have the budget to market to New York and Massachusetts as we want. “

Tony Sheridan, President and CEO of the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, said that in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening the economy is important and there is no better way to do it than through small businesses. “This is not just about tourism, but also about our economy,” he said. “This is about jobs. People who have been really badly injured are people who work in the arts and tourism industries.”

Wendy Bury, executive director of the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition, noted that the Connecticut pandemic resulted in $ 2.4 billion in lost revenue for creative industries in 2020 and that 57% of creative workers saw a sharp drop in the number of creative workers, according to data Work listed by Americans for the arts.

She said the bill will help address some of the effects of the pandemic, but it is also a long-term investment and that this legislation is recommendations from three-year discussions among people in the arts, culture and tourism industries.

In addition to its economic importance, David Dorfman of the dance company of the same name said: “Art is more necessary than ever. This is how we understand our changing and complex world.”

e.moser@theday.com