A message from Karen Senich, Executive Director, and Randy Fiveash, Director of Tourism, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism: 

Over the past few weeks much has been voiced and written about the State of Connecticut’s budget and how it has specifically affected the tourism budget of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism (CCT). Now that the dust has settled we want to update you on the tourism budget and the realities of it. Additionally, we want to briefly lay out the opportunities which lie ahead. The Commission is committed to doing everything we can to support and bolster Connecticut tourism in hopes of a rising economy and future funding.

The recently passed State of Connecticut budget allocates one dollar ($1.00) for FY 2010 and 2011 to the Statewide Marketing Fund for tourism marketing, down from $4.2 million last year. As you may be aware, the Statewide Marketing Fund is CCT’s multi-faceted account for tourism that includes all advertising, marketing, public relations and direct sales efforts, among other outreach efforts. This is the area that was reduced to $1.00.

These are challenging economic times for all, including Connecticut’s travel and tourism industry. As a result, a new approach is needed on the State level to promote Connecticut’s destinations, attractions, lodging and tourism services. The State’s role in tourism marketing is to provide leadership as the statewide marketing umbrella to reach as many target-market travelers as possible with a broad branded message. The Commission on Culture & Tourism focuses on marketing efforts that tourism districts and tourism industry members cannot do alone, as efficiently. 

The Commission on Culture & Tourism is committed to taking on this new budget challenge by: maintaining foundation tourism program elements, such as Connecticut’s Official Tourism website www.CTvisit.com, Connecticut Welcome Centers, and toll-free 1-888-CTvisit tourism information line; creating cooperative marketing efforts driven by the needs of the industry and major consumer motivators and; discontinuing marketing elements, while worthwhile, are no longer affordable.

Moving tourism forward in Connecticut in these difficult economic times will take a unified approach. We at CCT have developed a Tourism Moving Forward Plan of Action that is designed to help us collectively survive this critical time. We can only do this with the help and partnership of the Connecticut travel and tourism industry. To learn briefly what is behind the Tourism Moving Forward Plan of Action, along with information regarding programs that are affected by the reduction in Statewide Marketing Funds, click here. 

Finally, we want you to personally join us as we discuss Connecticut’s tourism future. We will be holding several workshops around the state where we will present the Tourism Moving Forward Plan of Action as well as marketing opportunities and CCT grants to help facilitate some of the programs in the plan. The dates, times and locations of the workshops are as follows.  

Please R.S.V.P. to Jade Ayala at  jade.ayala@ct.gov indicating the location and names of the people attending.

These are challenging times. Connecticut’s travel and tourism industry’s economic impact through jobs, income, recreation and quality of life to our state is just too important for us not to do everything we can to insure its continued vitality. We hope to see you at one of our workshops throughout the state. In the meantime, we would welcome the opportunity to hear from you if you have ideas or suggestions. 

Thank you for your support of tourism and all you do for Connecticut.

Sincerely,  

Karen Senich, Executive Director
Randy Fiveash, Director of Tourism
Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism
One Constitution Plaza, 2^nd floor
Hartford, CT 06103
Phone 860-256-2769
Fax 860-270-8077
www.CTvisit.com (consumer)
www.cultureandtourism.org (b2b)