Business & Tech

Suffolk Tourism Agencies Fearful Of Funding Changes

LICVB and other agencies said changes to its tourism marketing and promotion grant program will handcuff efforts to draw visitors.

Long Island tourism agencies spoke out against changes to the county's tourism promotion funds under the Suffolk County hotel/motel tax at the Suffolk County Legislature's Tuesday meeting.

Hauppauge-based Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau was joined by Long Island Wine Council, East End Tourism Alliance and North Shore Promotion Alliance in asking Suffolk County Legislature urging legislators to support County Executive Steve Levy's veto of a resolution proposing to change county funding for tourism promotion.

"We believe this law will divide up available resources into smaller, less attractive grants," said Steven Bates, executive director of Long Island Wine Council.

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Proposed by Legis. Jay Schneiderman, I-Montauk,  the bill for creation of the Suffolk Specialty Fund, to promote tourism only within Suffolk County using money for the hotel/motel tax. Then 33 percent of this funding will be made into a matching grant program for tourism agencies' marketing and promotion.  It was unanimously approved by the legislature on Oct. 12.

Mark McGowan, president of LICVB, said the agency already has a matching grant program for marketing and promotion that received $300,000 in 2010. However, the proposed legislation would add new stipulations requiring those agencies receiving grants much have a full-time staff, office and represent at least 10 hotels having at least 500 rooms.

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"The new stipulations would deny access to one council or another for these marketing initiatives," Bate said.

McGowan said most of Suffolk County's promotional agencies are run by volunteers, often do not have office space or do not represent enough hotels.

"Other than the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, very few others can meet these criteria of eligibility," he said.

Janine Nebbons, president of Tanger Outlets and East End Tourism Alliance, said a loss of matching funds would force them to scale back promotion of their East End Get Away website that was visited by more than 2,000 people a week.

"Today, 74 percent of travel decisions are made online. We have to have a website rich in content. We need to have access to public funding to compete for consumer attention in the most expensive media market in the work," Nebbons said. "Web-based marketing is a necessity to compete, and the website would be handcuffed by the proposed legislation."

Gloria Rocchio, president of North Shore Promotion Alliance, which represents more than 100 cultural and historic institutions as well as businesses, said under the proposes her agency would not be able to apply for matching funds. Yet, grant-based marketing helped draw over 60,000 visitors to their website over four months in 2010.  Her organizations markets and features places such as Northport's John W. Engeman Theater, Heckscher Museum in Huntington and Long Island Museum in Stony Brook.

The legislature will reconsider the bill and whether to override Levy's veto at their  Dec. 7 meeting.


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