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Web posted
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
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Pete Marovich/Carolina Morning News
Gov. Mark Sanford addresses the 2004 Governors Conference on Tourism at the Westin Resort on Hilton Head on Tuesday.
-Pete Marovich/Carolina Morning News
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Sanford plays up tourism's importance
HILTON HEAD ISLAND: Governor encourages 'thinking outside the box' to build state's top industry.
By Frank Morris
Carolina Morning News
Tough state budget times and the changing world economy make smart promotion of South Carolina tourism more important than ever, Gov. Mark Sanford told state tourism leaders Tuesday on Hilton Head Island.
In an era of profound economic changes, "one of the few areas that has held up the job market in this state has been tourism," Sanford said in a luncheon address at the 2004 South Carolina Governor's Conference on Tourism and Travel.
About 300 people attended the luncheon at the Westin Resort, where the state's largest annual gathering of tourism industry leaders began Monday and concludes today.
Sanford said many of the state's textile mill towns have lost jobs to low-wage manufacturing in China.
In the old days, he said, South Carolina could promote its cheap land, cheap labor and right-to-work law to attract plants from northern manufacturing states.
Now, cost-cutting manufacturers are increasingly moving jobs to China and India, instead, he said.
Sanford then noted that "44,000 fewer folks are working in South Carolina than just a couple years ago."
To make up lost economic ground, that makes tourism "an absolute priority," he said.
"For too long, tourism has been the redheaded stepchild of economic development in this state," Sanford said, drawing the loudest applause during his speech.
In introductory remarks, Chad Prosser, Park, Recreation and Tourism director, said Sanford has given the department the latitude to make sweeping changes since taking office in 2003.
"We also have a governor who understands the importance of the tourism market," Prosser said. "He is from the coast. He understands tourism from A to Z."
Prosser said Sanford has identified tourism as a key driver in growing and improving the state's economy, and that is reflected in his budget priorities.
Sanford said his understanding of the importance of tourism, which is also the Lowcountry's top industry, came from growing up in Beaufort County and then being congressman for the coastal District 1, which runs from Charleston through Horry counties.
The state's tourism industry employs 132,000 people, and "that is roughly 22 BMW plants," he said.
Restructuring of the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department has moved funding from administration to direct marketing, allowing paid advertising space to increase 55 percent and the marketing budget to increase 40 percent, he said.
States like Kansas and Illinois can't come close to matching South Carolina in tourism opportunities, and "we want to help you in marketing what we have a natural advantage in," Sanford said.
Ways the PRT is doing that include a 13 percent increase for funding partnerships with local tourism operations, he said.
Sanford said that when he ran into old Sea Pines Co. acquaintances at founder Charles Fraser's December 2002 funeral, they all said that tourism has resulted in much of the area's economic success.
Like chickens that supermarkets sell for 99 cents to build business, tourism spins bring other economic growth, such as the retirement industry, he said.
Given the changing world and state economies, "what we've got to do is look at change to prosper," Sanford said.
Sanford said thanked Prosser, a former Horry County Council chairman with real estate development and golf interests, for doing that.
PRT initiatives have included working with the state Department of Transportation to get $100,000 in federal funding for state maps and then funneling that savings to tourism marketing.
Sanford said the state can do more to build South Carolina's brand name "as a premier tourism destination" by looking for untapped opportunities and playing up events like the Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston.
The Heritage Classic Foundation sponsored the luncheon and Steve Wilmot, tournament director and foundation CEO, gave an address before Sanford spoke.
Sanford urged private tourism industry officials to "think outside the box" in terms of ways they can improve service.
"As you think outside the box, we promise to match those efforts," Sanford said. "Thank you for what you all are doing to raise income levels in South Carolina."
After his address, Sanford said that this budget year the PRT has cut its full-time staff by 12 percent and its part-time staff by 38 percent and redeployed the savings into marketing.
To find other marketing money, the Sanford administration is moving to privatize the state-run Hickory Knob Golf Course in McCormick, which is losing about $500,000 a year, he said.
With the state dealing with a $350 million budget shortfall, "the big, big picture is we're redeploying some money toward marketing, which we think is very important to increasing tourism opportunities in South Carolina," Sanford said.
Reporter Frank Morris can be reached at 785-7470 or fmorris@lowcountrynow.com
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