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Talk of the Bay

Ads to show what tourists means to you

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published May 29, 2006

A piece of Pinellas County's tax on hotels and motels will pay for a novel public relations campaign. Call it Love a Tourist.

Members of a panel that divvies up the tax receipts expressed concerns at a budget meeting last month that Pinellas residents don't understand the economic punch tourism carries in the county.

In beach communities where voters have flexed political muscle against pro-development forces, locals blame tourists for traffic jams and other growth-related woes.

So, the county's Tourist Development Council voted to spend $30,000 to educate residents on what the industry means to them.

Tourism marketers will produce public service announcements for the county's public access TV channel, print brochures and talk to neighborhood groups, said Carole Ketterhagen, executive director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Besides promoting the economic effect, she said, the campaign should highlight how tourism supports festivals, museums and high-end restaurants that benefit residents, too.

Redington Shores Mayor Jody Armstrong thinks the pitch should focus on how much tourists shell out in sales taxes that would otherwise burden local taxpayers. "You've got to hit the pocketbook,'' she says. Stay tuned.

- STEVE HUETTEL, Times staff writer

[Last modified May 29, 2006, 06:13:16]