Washington state travel groups to launch initiatives to attract more visitors

With budget cuts threatening to eliminate the Washington State Tourism Office, travel-industry groups are launching initiatives aimed at pumping millions of new dollars into attracting more visitors.

"We don't want things to go dark," said Tom Norwalk, president and CEO of Seattle's Convention & Visitors Bureau and a board member of the new Washington Tourism Alliance.

The alliance is a consortium of trade and government groups, including the Port of Seattle, the Washington Restaurant Association and the Washington Lodging Association.

Short term, the group will seek $200,00 to $300,000 in state funding to continue some of the state's tourism work, such as maintaining its website, www.experiencewa.com, and staffing a call center, Norwalk said. Long term, he said, "we need to find a model to fund state tourism."

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed cutting the department and its $1.8 million annual budget as of June 30. Something could change, but industry officials aren't hopeful.

"We're planning for the worst-case scenario at this point," said John Cooper, president of the Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau.

The alliance will meet March 31 to come up with new ideas for funding. One is to approach the Legislature with a plan similar to one used in California and other states. Restaurants, hotels, attractions and retail businesses assess themselves fees (technically not taxes) the states collect but can't divert to other uses.

Such a program could generate $9 million to $15 million annually in Washington, Cooper said.

As the state's fourth-largest industry behind aerospace, technology and agriculture, tourism generated nearly $1 billion in tax revenue statewide last year based on $15 billion in travel spending.

Tourism promoters have been talking for the past year about new ways to increase funding. Washington ranks 48th among states in spending on tourism.

"We thought we had more time," Norwalk said. "That all changed as the [state] deficit grew greater, and all of a sudden, our gigantic tourism industry was on the table."

Under way is a move by Seattle's Convention & Visitors Bureau and downtown hotels to petition the Seattle City Council to establish a "tourism improvement area" that would include 53 hotels with 60 or more rooms in an area bounded by South Lake Union, the Seattle waterfront, Safeco Field and Broadway.

Assuming 60 percent of hotel owners sign the petition, the city could pass an ordinance mandating a $2-per-night special assessment, to be added to the room charge, aimed at raising $4 million to $4.5 million annually for downtown tourism promotion.

"We don't have to spend the millions that a Florida or California [$58 million annually] spend, but we should be spending more than we do now," said Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton.

In an article for the website Crosscut.com, Creighton said that with China emerging as an economic power generating new tourists, "the state's financial crisis could not have come at a worse time for tourism promotion."

Carol Pucci: cpucci@seattletimes.com.