Gov. Mark Sanford told Lowcountry tourism leaders Wednesday that hospitality still isn't getting the recognition it deserves in the state capital.

Speaking to a campaign promise, Sanford assured about 200 members of Greater Charleston Hotel-Motel and Restaurant associations that he will push lawmakers in Columbia to maximize investment in the state's No. 1 industry.

"There are too many ways people don't look at the bottom line," he said. "The fact of the matter is, they can't grow a beach in Kansas. And one of the things that has not been recognized well enough in Columbia, for whatever reason, is that our competitive advantage is that we indeed have a beach ... and interesting locations that cannot be replicated anywhere else."

Sanford noted Lowcountry tour-ism has been outperforming the rest of the state. In the 2002-03 fiscal year, the Charleston area accounted for 12.5 percent of the state's admissions tax and 19.5 percent of its accommodations tax.

During his campaign, Sanford locked horns with then-Gov. Jim Hodges over tourism. On Wednesday, Sanford trumpeted changes he quarterbacked at the state tourism department, namely tapping Grand Strand real estate executive Chad Prosser as its head, getting a bigger part of the budget devoted to advertising, cutting costs and streamlining personnel.

Sanford also tried to rally support for plans to reduce state income taxes and government spending, two other major platforms of his fall campaign. He told Charles-ton's hotel and restaurant managers that the state has the 13th highest state income tax in the nation and that government spending is 130 percent of the national average. He said cutting "flat-out dysfunctional" spending and paring the state income tax would help boost small tourism businesses.

"You've always got to play to your advantages," Sanford said. "You all are a huge and unrecognized economic engine in South Carolina that has a whole lot to do with raising income levels."

The speech went over well with tourism leaders in attendance.

"Governor, thanks to you, we're not nearly as big of a target in Columbia as we used to be," Helen Hill, the executive director of the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, told Sanford.

Walt Thorn, the president of Absolutely Charleston, a company that plans group travel in the city, called Sanford a "hometown boy" who understands the issues important to the industry.

Julian Buxton, who owns Tour Charleston LLC, said he is impressed with the extent to which Sanford is going to bat for the hospitality industry.

"One of the things I hope comes out of this is for people to realize how important tourism is to revenue in South Carolina," he said. "A lot of people pay lip service to it, but he's putting his reputation on the line to make things happen."