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Following is an email received from Steve Yencich, CAE, President/CEO, Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association regarding the postponement of the conference.

This is to inform you that the Tourism Industry Legislative Conference, originally set for next Wednesday, May 7th has been canceled and will be rescheduled for a date later this September.

Sometimes it’s best to listen to your customers….

As we made calls to promote attendance, some common themes emerged. This cancellation is due to low registration numbers which many told us were influenced by a variety of factors, including:

Proximity to “Driving Tourism 2008″ The Legislative Conference wouldv’e taken place just 3 weeks following our industry’s very successful “Driving Tourism 2008, ” an event which brought over 500 people to Grand Rapids. So much time away from the office, in so short a period of time can be a problem for many.

Arguably, people may be suffering from a little “legislative issue fatigue.” In the weeks leading up to the tourism conference we all worked very hard to pass legislation to increase promotion funding without tax or assessment increase. Thousands of faxes, phone calls and emails were generated to help pass SB 1223-25. A combined 100 people showed up to two separate House and Senate hearings to show support for that legislation. On the heels of all that grassroots effort, maybe it’s just time to catch our breaths…

Some may have felt that we’d already achieved a great deal of our goal. Even though it’s only temporary funding, $60 million is a lot of money, and it will take at least two years before it begins to dissapate. Others may have felt it was a bit premature to worry about a loss of funding that won’t take place until 2010.
But there were other factors that went into the decision to reschedule this event.

Politically, a small crowd sends the wrong message. Showing up at the Capitol for a industry-wide legislative conference with a small crowd probably does more damage than good. Imagine … if only a handful of people had showed up for those House and Senate hearings on promotion funding - chances are that it never would have passed at all.

Both of these events are designed to be big. One generates big attendance, the other is designed to generate a big impact. From a programmatic perspective, having two such major events in the same quarter really doesn’t make sense. Now is a logical time to provide some separation between these two major events.

Finally, It’s important to secure permanent tourism promotion funding in 2008. SB 690 provides permanent, dedicated funding for tourism promotion. Because the entire House is up for reelection and many current members are termed out - it’s crucial that we make a concerted effort to pass legislation this year. We spent a lot of time and effort educating legislators on the important role tourism plays in our state’s economy. It’s best that we work in an environment in which many House members already understand our issues.

So let’s feel good about our acheivements for a while, put what we have learned at “Driving Tourism 2008″ to use, and have a great summer! In the interim, we’ll be back to you with a special conference issue of “MI Lodging and Tourism Online” soon!

Steve Yencich, CAE

President/CEO

Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association

3815 W. St. Joseph Hwy Suite A200

Lansing, MI 48917

(517) 267-8989

(517) 267-8990 fax