Tourism officials deny tie to e-mail alleging racism

MIAMI -- An e-mail that calls the new governors of South Carolina and Georgia racists and purports to start a "whisper campaign" against those states to boost tourism in Florida is a hoax, state officials said Thursday.

The e-mail sent Tuesday claims to bear a message from Kim Howes, public relations director for Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency.

Howes denies sending the message, said Bud Nocera, Visit Florida's executive vice president. Agency officials said they are trying to find the message's source.

"I believe that somebody has contrived this in order to damage our organization," Nocera said. "For us to advocate the use of racism in any way is abhorrent."

The e-mail lays out a strategy to lure tourists away from Charleston and Savannah.

"The recent elections in Georgia and South Carolina provide us an unprecedented opportunity over these states," the e-mail reads. "The "so called' Confederate flag was a major issue in each race. . . . When speaking with media or tour groups please bring up the fact that Florida does not have a racist flag nor a racist Governor like these states do."

It asks recipients to contact Howes about how to start "this whispering campaign."

Peter Guptill, chairman of the Visit Florida board, said he would launch an investigation to try to track the source of the message. Any Visit Florida employee involved will be fired, he said.

Nocera said the e-mail wasn't sent from a Visit Florida e-mail address. It was sent on the morning of Christmas Eve, when the office was closed.

In Georgia, Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, who persuaded the Legislature to shrink the Confederate emblem on the state flag, lost his seat to Sonny Perdue.

South Carolina Gov.-elect Mark Sanford, a Republican, defeated incumbent Gov. Jim Hodges in November. Some analysts said Hodges was hurt by the Confederate flag issue. He was involved in the compromise that removed the flag from the Statehouse dome and moved it to a memorial site in 2000.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's spokeswoman, Katie Muniz, declined to comment, saying Visit Florida is handling the inquiry.

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