Both fights are still undecided with just over a week left in the session.

Leaders of the film and hospitality industries are calling on their troops to dig in for a final charge.

The bill to kill the mandatory minibottle passed the Senate Feb. 25 and narrowly passed the House judiciary committee last Wednesday.

Now, it needs two-thirds from the floor, some ink from Gov. Mark Sanford and approval by voters in November. On Wednesday the Charleston Hotel/Motel Association sent its 200 or so members a list of representatives who are against the bill or undecided on the matter.

A bill that would exempt big film productions from sales and use taxes and give 5 percent rebates on employment taxes passed the House April 14 and was reported out of the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday.

But Sen. Phil Leventis, a Democrat from Sumter, put his name on the legislation and sent it to the "contested calendar."

The bill is on tomorrow's schedule, but it can't go anywhere unless Leventis is present. Leventis couldn't be reached for comment on why he put the brakes on the bill.

"We are still very optimistic," said Ken French, a founding member of the Carolina Film Alliance, an area trade group that hired a lobbyist to push the bill through the Statehouse.

SUMMER SIMMER

This summer will be a hot one for tourism, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.

The association is forecasting a 3.2 percent increase in leisure travel for the coming June, July and August compared with the year-earlier period. But there are conflicting figures on whether vacationers will be more spendthrift.

"For the first time in years, the summer travel season will start off with a bang, and we expect it to stay strong through August," said Dr. Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for TIAA.

Air travel is expected to increase 5 percent, a trend that Charleston -- armed with a new discount carrier -- is likely to see.

TIAA predicts travelers will spend 4.4 percent more on trips this summer, about $1,100 for the average trip (7.6 nights).

The picture is not entirely rosy, however. Gas prices, for one, aren't expected to come down soon.

A smaller survey (1,000 people) by Myvesta, a Maryland nonprofit focused on finance, posted results that contradict TIAA findings.

Only 41 percent of the folks Myvesta surveyed said they would travel this summer, compared with 48.5 percent last year.

The organization said travel spending will drop by 5.3 per-cent.

REAL-TIME TOURISM

In an effort to incite collaboration in the tourism industry, the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has launched an Internet listserv for hospitality players.

Dubbed the "S.C. Tourism & Travel Cafe," the site will be a forum for those in the industry to bounce some ideas back and forth.

The idea was born at the governor's tourism conference in early February after the state's economic development consultants urged those in the tourism industry to collaborate more.

PRT director Chad Prosser sent a batch of letters out recently urging those interested to sign up by e-mailing vwallen@scprt. com.

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