State leaders look to triple Connecticut’s tourism marketing budget

Mystic — State officials and tourism leaders gathered Thursday at one of Connecticut’s top attractions, Mystic Aquarium, to tout a bill that would triple the state’s tourism marketing budget.

The state spent $4.5 million on tourism marketing last fiscal year, about half of what was spent by New Hampshire, a state with about half of Connecticut’s population. The bill aims to raise the marketing budget to more than $12 million with the whole package funded by the state’s 1% extra tax on food and beverage sales, officials said.

State Comptroller Sean Scanlon said the money is part of a proposed $55 million package to boost the state’s tourism and hospitality industry.

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said investing in marketing is vital to Connecticut’s economic health, as she promoted the bill during the meeting here of the Connecticut Tourism Coalition, Scanlon and other officials.

This is a major investment,” Scanlon said after the meeting. “The bill is all about investing in the tourism industry.”

Frank Burns, the coalition’s executive director, said the 1% tax generates more than $100 million annually. Burns said the bill also aims to invest $5 million in arts and $5 million for culture.

Koray Gurz, the aquarium chief financial officer and chief operating officer, said tourism spending yields $4 for every $1 invested. He pointed out that the aquarium attracts 800,000 visitors annually, more than half of those coming from out of state who spend money here.

Scanlon’s press release announcing the event said he would address the economic consequences of President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, though he did not in his speech to the coalition. He said anything that makes goods and services more expensive is problematic.

“It does have an impact on people’s ability to spend money and support industries like tourism,” Scanlon said of the tariffs.

Scanlon told the coalition that with a budget surplus, a $4 billion rainy day fund and $10 billion less in pension debt than seven years ago, the state is positioned to invest for the first time in years.

“Connecticut is now at an inflection point,” Scanlon said, and the state needs to decide how it wants to navigate its “next chapter.”

“Some people don’t consider tourism as important as it is,” Osten said. “But it’s a multibillion-dollar industry in the State of Connecticut.”

Osten said the state has “missed the mark” by not investing in tourism. She said the state has put aside little to no money to market how it will celebrate the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary. Burns said the proposed bill puts $5 million to funding America 250 marketing.

“We’re a great state that has assets that need to be shown to people, and the only way to show them is we need to have marketing dollars, Osten said.

According to the coalition, Connecticut’s tourism industry generates $2.6 billion in annual tax revenue and employs 120,000 people while travelers spend $17 billion.