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One-stop shopping for state tourism sites©Associated Press © St. Petersburg Times, published October 22, 2000 The number of people using the Internet for travel research and planning has grown from an estimated 3.1-million in 1996 to about 52.2-million in 1999, according to a recent study by the Tourism Industry Association of America. But with the mind-boggling number of travel-related sites available on the World Wide Web, how do you know where to go to find accurate and impartial information? "For decades, vacationers have relied on state tourism offices to provide unbiased information on visitor attractions, events, lodging and transportation, because we are required to treat all of our constituencies equally and fairly," says David DePetrillo, tourism director for Rhode Island. "With the advent of the Internet, much of that information is now instantly attainable on each state's official tourism Web site. But finding those Web sites can be frustrating. "There is a whole host of companies on the Internet, masquerading as unbiased sources of tourism information, who are really trying to sell you their own products and services." To resolve the problem, DePetrillo and his colleague, Missouri tourism director Christopher Jennings, worked with the Tourism Industry Association of America and the tourism directors for every state and territory to launch a portal site, http://www.tourstates.com. "The new portal takes the guesswork out of finding the state tourism Web site of your choice," Jennings says. "As soon as you open the site, you'll get a map of the United States. You can either use the map or go to the menu at the bottom of the page and click on the name of the state or U.S. territory that you want to visit."
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
