Our politically moderate former Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman long ago left for his new job as U.S. ambassador to China, but the conservative Utah think tank, the Sutherland Institute, isn't through tussling with him.
In a research paper that offered 10 recommendations for closing Utah's $850 million budget shorfall, the institute calls for abolishing the Utah Office of Tourism. While governor, Huntsman made tourism a big priority, increasing its budget from slightly under $1 million to $10 million.
Sutherland officials, in what is clearly a rebuke to Huntsman, claim that the increased emphasis on tourism hasn't paid off in increased dollars for Utahns.
We disagree. The Sutherland Institute is just plain wrong. Huntsman's efforts to make tourism a high priority in Utah have paid many dividends. In 2008, for example, 20.4 million tourists visited Utah, compared to only 17.5 million tourists in 2004. And about $7.1 billion was spent in Utah by these visitors in 2008. That translates, according to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, to a tax break for Utahns of about $708 per household. To us, that's a really good deal. It's also important to note that, according to state tourism officials, for every $1 spent on advertising Utah tourism, state and local governments receive $12 in tax revenue.
The Sutherland Institute is a provocative conservative think tank. Highly influential among right-wingers in the Utah Legislature, the institute offers a blend of Eagle Forum social conservatism and libertarian economic conservatism. We understand the Sutherland Institute's argument that private money from businesses, not public money, should be used to attract tourists to Utah.
But in the very competitive international and national environment to attract tourists, states need to be proactive. Utah has done that with its tourism office. It was a smart move, given all our state's beauty, history and the best snow on earth. If we just shut all our state efforts down, Utah tourism would decline ... as would the dividends that help fill our state and local coffers and reduce our taxes.
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