Sen. Formica Advocates for More Stable Tourism Funding

Pictured in Attached Photo: Sen. Paul Formica speaking at a press conference last month with tourism advocates in support of protecting funding for local economic development.

Hartford – State Senator Paul Formica (R-East Lyme), founder and co-chair of the state’s Tourism Caucus, is advocating for a more stable stream of funding for state tourism.

Last week, Sen. Formica joined Republican lawmakers in presenting a state budget proposal that protects tourism funding by creating a new Marketing, Culture and Tourism account. The new account would be funded by dedicating 1.5% of the current hotel occupancy tax to tourism needs. Instead of relying on the state’s General Fund to distribute tourism dollars, the creation of a new tourism focused account would create a stable fund for tourism needs and award funding on a competitive basis.

Under the proposal, an advisory council made up of tourism experts, representatives from each tourism district in the state, local chambers of commerce, and other community members would work with the Department of Economic and Community Development to distribute funding to individual tourism sites and develop strategies to increase tourism. This would result in a tourism funding increase and more stability.

“Every dollar spent in tourism generates even more for the local economy,” said Sen. Paul Formica. “As budget discussions continue, Connecticut needs to make sure support for tourism remains part of the conversation to grow jobs and economic development throughout our state.”