Should Visitors Association Contract be renewed?

by: Bill Liblick

County manager David Fanslau and members of the legislature are obligated to reevaluate contracts funded through our tax dollars to insure they are viable, cost effective, and are producing results.

For example, I just finished browsing the latest financial statements (2004 and 2005) the county has on file for the Sullivan County Visitors Association. I was amazed what I discovered.

The Visitors Association is a separate entity that operates with its own board of directors but receives massive funding from our county. Its goal is to promote Sullivan County as a destination for visitors and tourists.

According to Josh Potosek, Commissioner of Management and Budget, in 2007 the Sullivan County Visitors Association received $425,000 from room tax revenue (money paid quarterly $105,000, yearend estimate is roughly $575,000), tourism $232,941 (for tourism promotion as they expend it), plus $72,059 for “I Love NY”, making a grand total of $ 725,000.

The Sullivan County Visitors Association is also administer of funds for the Eagle Institute with a budget of $9,000, the Delaware Arts Alliance for $22,500, and the Catskill Association for Tourism Services for $18,000.

Salaries that include four full-time and one part-time employee come close to $250,000, not mentioning other fringe benefits they receive. Everything is done in house, except for some creative.

What does Sullivan County get out of all this in return? Look around, and ask yourself that question, and you might draw own conclusions.

Roberta Lockwood who heads the Association since 2000 has a respectable and credible resume, but there are those who allege she has become stale in the job, lost focus, and is ineffective.

When you speak to Lockwood you get an entirely different impression. In fact she sounds like a one woman marketing tool for Sullivan County.

Lockwood told me that the bulk of her work is often not visible to area residents. She works on bringing tourists dollars in through different means such as taking booths at trade shows touting Sullivan County.

She said her mission to enhance our bottom line has indeed been successful. A recent study Lockwood said concluded that in 2006 we received $18,979,000 in tax dollars thanks to tourism.

Last weekend we played host to the Eastern States Classic High School Wrestling Tournament, several community leaders approached me that they were upset the Visitors Association did nothing to welcome them. Lockwood claims she did not even know they were here. She said if she did, she would have worked on a welcoming promotion. In other words all organizations should inform the Visitors Association of their upcoming events.

The county raised the hotel occupancy tax last year to better fund the Visitors Association so that money would not come out directly from our tax dollars.

While 80 percent collected from the hotel tax is to promote tourism, it is that very tax which the Swan Lake Hotel (formerly Stevensville) blames for its closure.

Last year Kutsher’s argued that the increased hotel tax was unjust. They are now closed until Passover and are holding on by a thread.

The County might have thought it was a good idea to raise this tax, but it obviously was not the right thing to do. Despite minimal convention, Lockwood claims she still brought conventions into our area such as the “Red Hats.”

The two big attractions which Lockwood peddles, Bethel Woods and Monticello Gaming and Raceway, rely heavily on their own public relations and advertising.

I am sure many positives are connected to the Visitors Association. It does try to promote our lodging, restaurants, and events through a website and in printed publications.  Even so, the legislature must seriously ponder if funding them has become a bad investment. Others have expressed an interest in taking Sullivan County’s tourism in a new direction, and must be considered.

Perhaps the answer is dissolving the Visitors Association, and seeing a new entity formed, or maybe we should keep things the way they are. All options must be weighed.

Legislator Ron Hiatt told me he agreed that that county has to be open to new ideas because of budget constraints. He added “we don’t have to do things because they were done that way in the past.”

State Senator John Bonacic is an unyielding supporter of Lockwood’s. He told me he was concerned that a cutback in funding would be harmful in bringing tourist dollars to our region. “Look at all the great progressive things she has done since being here,” he stressed.

The Visitors Association may defend receiving close to a million dollars a year for the work they do, and they will gladly furnish us with a long list of their accomplishments. Nonetheless, alternatives must also be explored.

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