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Tourism department asks legislature to replace lost federal marketing dollars with $25M in state funding
Summary
At a March 17 hearing, the Department of Tourist Development described visitor-economy gains and asked for $25 million (including $10 million recurring) to replace federal funds that supported a multi-year marketing program; department officials highlighted economic returns and rural destination development.
The Department of Tourist Development told the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on March 17 that Tennessee's visitor economy generated about $30 billion in visitor spending last year and asked the legislature to replace federal marketing funds with a $25 million state investment.
Commissioner Mark Ezell said that, using a 7 percent blended tax figure, the department's estimate of $30 billion in visitor spending translates into about $2 billion of state and local tax receipts. "When visitors pay, residents benefit," he said, citing a departmental analysis that places Tennessee in the top tier of states for tax savings per household from visitor spending.
The department asked the legislature to replace the expiring federal drawdown by approving $25,000,000: $10,000,000 in new recurring funds and $15,000,000 nonrecurring to keep promotional and destination-development programs running. Ezell said the larger recurring component would…
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