Tourism as a form of economic development is becoming increasingly important in the Hudson Valley with its numerous venues for visitors and literally millions of potential tourists living within easy traveling distance.?But Rockland County has been something of a forgotten stepsister in that effort. Until now.
The county Legislature is exploring whether continuing with the county tourism department or turning tourism promotion over to the Rockland Economic Development Corp. would provide the biggest bang for the buck. In Rockland”™s case, that totals the $527,000 the county has budgeted for tourism promotion in 2010, apparently the smallest such budget in the region. Â But now the question is, who will control that budget and can it be reduced while still promoting more tourism in Rockland?
“It”™s a discussion and it”™s a worthwhile discussion to have,” said C.J. Miller, who three weeks ago was appointed to the post of director of the tourism office by County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, after the previous director died. ?“Everything in this department is currently under review,” Miller said. “We are really looking at the department in a completely different way. I do believe there are a lot of ways this department can be revenue generating.
And if there is a way to save money, I will find it.”?She said that one way to both cut costs and raise revenue is to transform the county tourism effort  “into an electronically driven department.” She said the county”™s tourism website needs total revamping and could be changed into a sort of “electronic magazine,” that would allow web-visitors to call up schedules from performance venues and theaters and book tickets on line, and call up menus from restaurants and book reservations on line. ?In citing those ideas, Miller raised many of the same points as Ronald Hicks, president and CEO of the Rockland Economic Development Corp., who was invited to address the county Legislature Sept. 1 regarding how the REDC would handle the functions of the county tourism department.?“
Tourism is never considered as economic development by most of my colleagues around the state,” Hicks said. But he noted that his career started in tourism and sees it differently. “Tourism is economic development. Tourism is small-business development.” Â ?He said the REDC would be willing to take over if requested, but said he is not seeking the responsibility, and only offered suggestions at the request of the Legislature. Â ?There is a key area of difference in their approaches to promoting tourism, however.
Miller raised the idea of enacting a county hotel “bed tax,” which she said would raise more than $2 million annually if imposed at a rate of 3 percent on each hotel bill. She said among the 10 counties in the Hudson Valley, Rockland is the only county that has not imposed a bed tax. ?Miller said that she is not proposing the idea to the county executive, only that it is “under review.” Hicks said the business community seemed inalterably opposed to the idea. ?“If we dedicate a quarter of that solely to tourism, this department could be funded with no taxpayer share,” Miller said, acknowledging that “our business community has opposed it,” but such revenue could help drive tourism promotion efforts and improve business for lodging establishments and other venues.
Vanderhoef”™s office did not return a call seeking comment by deadline.
