Tourism officials: Budget cuts will hit Carson, rurals hardest

Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposal to shrink the budget of the Nevada Commission on Tourism would hurt tourism, businesses and tax revenues across the state, critics of the plan said Wednesday.

Members of the tourism commission, local tourism directors and tourism industry representatives joined under a group named Save Nevada Tourism to hold the Nevada Tourism Summit in Carson City.

The state and counties will lose tourism dollars with fewer resources to market Nevada, said Ryan Sheltra, a tourism commissioner and general manager of the Bonanza Casino in Reno.

"I can assure you if we lose our footplace in the tourism market, we will stumble and fall," he said.

The tourism commission was created in 1983 because rural counties needed an advocate, he said. Shrinking the tourism commission's budget would hurt family-owned businesses already struggling in the slow economy, he said.

"Is this the time we turn our backs to them?" he said. "I think not."

The governor's plan would cut the tourism commission budget by 60 percent and reduce staff by about one-third. It would also merge the tourism commission with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development and cut the position of tourism director.

The tourism commission is funded through hotel room taxes. Gibbons' plan would fund the tourism commission through the general fund.

Dan Burns, a representative for Gibbons, said the governor's top priorities are creating jobs and bringing visitors to Nevada.

The cuts will save money and reduce overlapping jobs, he said. The plan that speakers criticized at the Nevada Tourism Summit will not hurt tourism, however, he said.

"It's too bad they couldn't take their energy and focus it on attracting more people to Nevada," he said.

Candy Duncan, executive director of the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the cuts will most hurt Carson City and rural counties. They depend on the work of the tourism commission staff for marketing and support, she said.

"Now, budget cuts threaten to soften their voice from a shout to a whisper," she said.

The governor's plan would cut the tourism commission's budget for rural county grants from $1.75 million to $675,000.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.