The Special Legislative Commission to Study Methods for Growing Tourism in the State of Rhode Island Through Coordinated Branding and Marketing Efforts will meet Friday at the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket.
The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled Friday, Oct. 14, at 10 a.m. at the museum, which is located at 42 South Main St., Woonsocket.
The commission, led by Rep. Lauren H. Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport) has been holding some of its meetings at sites around the state to highlight and draw attention to Rhode Island’s tourism assets and to engage more Rhode Islanders in its conversations.
The meeting will begin with a presentation on the history and background of the Museum of Work and Culture by Rhode Island Historical Society Executive Director Morgan Grefe.
The Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Chief Marketing Officer Lara Salamano will then update the commission on statewide tourism marketing efforts by her agency, and members of the House Fiscal Office staff will provide an explanation of the hotel tax and year-to-date tax numbers.
The agenda also includes a discussion of the work of the commission’s workgroups by Discover Newport President and CEO Evan Smith, who will talk about metrics for measurement, and Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Martha Sheridan, who will talk about researching other state structures. Rep. Kenneth Marshall, who is a commission member, will discuss the Rhode Island Welcome Center, followed by planning of the commission’s final two meetings and public testimony.
The commission was organized to study Rhode Island’s tourism industry and make recommendations for cultivating it through statewide coordinated branding and marketing efforts. It is currently working to review the distribution of the hotel tax; to examine other state tourism promotion organizational structures in order to recommend a stable and effective organizational home for statewide tourism efforts; and to design and recommend a metric system for measuring the impact and the return on investment on state tourism and marketing dollars. It is also receiving regular reports from the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, which receives a share of the hotel tax for marketing and branding, and reviewing its campaigns, expenditures and the return on dollars spent.