CHARLESTON, S.C. - South Carolina is set to spend more money than ever on tourism ads as the state battles its Southeastern neighbors for vacationers.

The Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department will spend 25 percent of its budget on marketing in this fiscal year, which started July 1. Last year, the agency spent 19 percent of its money on ads.

"It's a commitment unlike any I've seen since I've been doing business for 20 years," said Scott Ziegler, who supervises the tourism agency's advertising account at The Leslie Agency in Greenville. "To me, it's somebody facing the economic realities of what tourism means to the state's economy and doing something about it."

Tourism is South Carolina's biggest industry, generating nearly $15 billion per year.

Even though the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department took a 16 percent cut in its overall budget this fiscal year, it will still spend $11.8 million in marketing, $4.5 million of which will pay for magazine, newspaper and television ads.

To make up for the lost money, the agency has cut 27 full-time employees and scaled back the equivalent of 89 additional full-time positions. The department also bought out 12 full-timers and left 29 unfilled positions empty, spokesman Marion Edmonds said.

The agency is making other changes as well. It hopes to save $282,000 by combining its two annual guidebooks, "Places" and "Smiles," into a single magazine-sized edition. It will also save money by leasing less office space and fewer vehicles, Edmonds said.

Executives at The Leslie Agency are confident the added spending on ads will be worthwhile. The firm says South Carolina generates $23 for every $1 spent on marketing.

But more money won't mean significant changes to the state's tourism advertising, according to the agency, which created the "Smiling Faces, Beautiful Faces" campaign years ago.

South Carolina will continue to put ads in newspapers, magazines and on television, but the new money means the ads can run 50 percent longer and more frequently, Ziegler said.

The firm also plans to beef up South Carolina's tourism presence on the Internet.

Information from: The Post And Courier