SOUTHEAST
TOURISM POLICY COUNCIL ORGANIZES AS UNIFIED VOICE FOR TRAVEL INDUSTRY IN 11-STATE
REGION
An organization that represents
tourism interests in 11 Southeastern states has begun speaking with a unified
voice on matters of legislation, public policy and the future of the travel industry.
The Southeast Tourism Policy Council (STPC)
now is the advocacy voice for the Southeast Tourism Society (STS), which is headquartered
in Atlanta and whose states stretch from West Virginia to Florida to Louisiana.
"Tourism ranks first, second or third as
the largest industry in every state in the Southeast. Representing that industry
to governmental leaders, particularly in Congress, is the fundamental mission
of the policy council," said Bill Hardman Jr., president and CEO of the Southeast
Tourism Society.
Additional missions of
the STPC are to encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors
of the tourism industry and to be an advocate for tourism's sustainable economic
growth in an environmentally responsible way.
Among
the initial issues of interest to the STPC are
· Federal funding to market
the United States as a destination for international travelers.
· Federal
highway funding
· Informational surveys of international visitors to provide
basic research that can guide individual states' marketing efforts.
· A long-term
fee demonstration program for all federal land agencies such as the National Park
Service, the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
The
roots of the STPC are in the prior governmental affairs efforts of the Southeast
Tourism Society and the first-ever State-Federal Tourism Summit that STS organized
in 2002.
Less than two years after the
State-Federal Tourism Summit, the STPC demonstrated its commitment by establishing
formal relationships with five department of the federal government-Interior,
Agriculture, Commerce, Army and Transportation-plus the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
That
occurred Feb. 24, 2004, with the signing
of a Memorandum of Understanding between the STPC and the various
federal offices. The signing ceremony was at the Department of the Interior. Secretary
of the Interior Gale Norton observed that all of the signatories were "strong
advocates with common goals in support of public lands and the economic viability
of tourism."
