Tourism officials worry about impact of city budget cuts

Everyone knew the Colorado Springs City Council would have to make tough decisions to fill the gaping hole in the budget. But in cutting the allocation for the convention and visitors bureau, is the city, as councilwoman Jan Martin put it Monday, cutting off its nose to spite its face?

If the council goes ahead with reducing the bureau’s share of the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax from two-thirds to one-half — a cut of about $576,000 —the bureau’s budget will shrink to $2.4 million, about the same level it was at in 1996.

That will hurt, said visitors bureau president Terry Sullivan.

“Once these reductions are put into effect, we’ll basically have very little and be able to do very little,” he said.

With the lodging tax down about 13 percent so far this year, Experience Colorado Springs (the bureau’s proper name) had already been trimming its budget, reducing staff from 21 to 18 and cutting its proposed 2010 budget to $3.2 million — down from $4 million two years ago, Sullivan said.

Why should the bureau get a break when everyone is tightening their belts? Tourism is big business in Colorado Springs — it brings more than $1 billion to the region’s economy every year and provides more than 16,000 jobs. The visitors bureau leads the way in marketing the region, said Steve Ducoff, executive director of the Pikes Peak Lodging Association.

“Everybody is sort of stunned” by the cuts, Ducoff said. “Not being able to get out and show (tourists) what Colorado Springs has puts us at a disadvantage.”

Gov. Bill Ritter, Ducoff noted, has resisted cutting tourism spending despite the state’s budget woes.

“(Ritter) realizes, I think, that you’ve got to be out there competing with other cities for tourism,” Ducoff said.

Spencer Wren, general manager of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, said local attractions like his advertise within the state, but rely on the visitors bureau to reach national audiences.

“They’re out there in Kansas and Nebraska and Texas,” Wren said. “Nobody can really afford that kind of expenditure (individually).”

Although the lodging tax is down, Colorado Springs has fared much better this year than Denver and the state as a whole. Occupancy rates at local hotels were up in August and September while they fell statewide.

Sullivan said he knows the council is in a financial bind and he’s not hoping for miracles. But, he said, there’s a price to be paid down the road.

“Tourism equals taxes which equals jobs,” he said.

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