Conference on Tourism

Remarks of Gov. JUDY MARTZ
Conference on Tourism
6:30 p.m., Colonial Inn
March 27, 2001

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Thank you. It’s a privilege for me to be here this evening speaking to the 27th gathering of this important industry in Montana’s economy. It is my first opportunity as your governor to share my vision for tourism in Montana and to confirm my commitment to help this industry continue to prosper and grow.

Although my job title has changed, I want to assure you here tonight that my commitment to tourism remains steadfast, neither wavering nor diminished.

Let me begin by clearly stating that our administration believes that the bed tax should be dedicated for tourism and its promotion. I will resist efforts to compromise those funds for other purposes.

Clearly, Montana communities, and thereby families, prosper from those we can persuade to visit our blessed state. Many of our communities have recognized the positive impact tourism can have for their local economies and even their own sense of identity and pride.

Look at the wonderful museums found throughout Montana. The first ones that come to mind may be large ones such as the Charlie Russell museum, newly dedicated just last week. What a jewel that is for visitors to find along their adventure. And there are others such as the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings and the fantastic Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.

Yet, those smaller but no less historically vibrant museums in Browning, Lewistown, at St. Labre and Butte are like treasures waiting to be discovered by visitors who find that stopping was far better and more rewarding than passing through.

Clearly, the arts, complementary to our heritage are a powerful combination that communities are creatively and effectively using to draw tourists to their special corners of this great state.

Our Montana communities have creatively found ways to promote their own special contributions to our colorful heritage.

Like a quilt, each square, representing a particular community is special and unique.

From the annual reenactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn to the Sweet Pea Festival in Bozeman, to the Sheep Drive in Reed Point-- Montana communities offer experiences that visitors will not find anywhere else and won’t soon forget.

To all the communities that have developed their own unique blend of attractions, I want to congratulate you on your efforts. Montana is richer in every way because of your investment. For those who are working to create that special blend of experiences, I want to assure you that this administration is committed to helping you get there.

Tourism has really become one of Montana’s basic industries—one of the few growth industries in our state.

As Lieutenant Governor, I was involved in a number of Travel Montana grant award presentations. We awarded Tourism Infrastructure Investment Program (TIIP) Grants to Twin Bridges for its local museum in the historic Reid Building.

We also presented a grant to Chinook’s Blaine County Wildlife Museum—an outstanding facility that will feature natural history information on Montana’s rich wildlife heritage for visitors and Montanans, alike. It’s a great local project giving a historic downtown theater new life and the community a new attraction for visitors and residents alike.

The Moss Mansion is another wonderful treasure among historic Montana mansions. The TIIP grant will allow the Billings Preservation Association to reconstruct the mansion’s old carriage house facility and provide additional visitor services at a fine facility.

There are many more projects, so worthy of mention, such as the Rialto Community Theater in Deer Lodge and Dillon’s Union Pacific Depot Theater which received a Community Tourism Assessment Program (CTAP) grant to improve the heating and cooling system to make it a year-round facility.

Hardin’s BN/Sante Fe Railroad Depot will become a visitor and community center.

And even Anaconda’s smelter stack received a CTAP grant to develop an interpretive site to highlight its historical significance.

Tourism means much more to Montana than dollars flowing out of visitors’ pockets and into our cash registers. Tourism is about communities recognizing what makes them special; communities preserving their heritage and sharing it with others; tourism’s ability to help support services that residents enjoy but perhaps could not support completely on their own.

Look around in most Montana communities and you will find a variety of restaurants, theaters, shopping opportunities, recreation facilities and services that could not sustain themselves without the flow of visitors through the communities to help them thrive.

Montana’s tourism industry appears to come out ahead even when the odds are stacked against them. All of us in the room tonight could share a collective cringe when we think about last summer’s wildfires.

Believe me, Marc Racicot and I pleaded and strongly urged national media sources to carefully explain that 99 percent of Montana was open for business, even though only 1 percent of our state was on fire.

It was a tremendous challenge. Well-meaning but profit and ratings-hungry media outlets liked the sound of “Montana on fire.” I assure you that we certainly DID NOT—mainly because it wasn’t true-- but also because the impacts these alarms could have on tourism during its peak season could have been devastating.

I appreciate the calls of concern to our office last summer, encouraging us to spell out the facts clearly and completely. We listened and believe me, we tried!

Some media tried to be careful in their reports. Others ignored our pleas for the sake of brevity or sensation, I’m not sure which.

In spite of those hair-raising reports, Montana still hosted 9.4 million visitors who spent more than $1.6 billion ---That’s billion with a “B”...

I think we should take a moment to give ourselves a round of applause for the collective effort that was demonstrated last summer, fighting overblown reports and telling the rest of the world that Montana is open for business and welcoming to visitors --- even during some harrowing days.

Almost 26,000 Montana jobs are supported by our visitors’ travels generating a payroll of $395 million dollars per year.

Non resident travel’s contribution to state and local taxes is estimated to be more than 7 percent of all state and local taxes paid.

Tomorrow, I am hosting the Montana Tourism and Recreation Initiative Directors meeting in the Governor’s Office reception room at 10 a.m.

We will be meeting the directors of Montana’s state and federal agencies to discuss opportunities for these entities to communicate more and work together better to assure the continued quality of Montana’s tourism opportunities.

There will be a $20,000 "big check" presentation from the National park Service MTRI Rep. Darlene Koontz of Grant-Kohrs Historic Ranch on behalf of MTRI as a Challenge Cost Share Grant to support this federal-state agency organization's efforts to improve and expand Montana's Lewis & Clark Site interpretation across the state.

This will be a great help to communities across the state as we prepare for the millions of tourists that come to see the important sites that are special to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

I’m thrilled to be involved with helping make the most of this special anniversary. We have only one chance to get it right. I intend to do everything I can within the capacity of this office to make this anniversary the best it can be.

I’m very pleased to report to you tonight on the status House Bill 236, sponsored by Representative Himmelburger. This bill would take $500,000 from the bed tax revenues to be used to promote non-recurring special events.

Based on the outstanding input from several of you here tonight and from many members of the tourism industry, I am pleased to report that we have forged a compromise with Rep. Himmelburger to make the administrative changes necessary so that these projects would be eligible to receive funding, yet without setting aside a special pot of money for that purpose alone.

House Bill 236 is no longer necessary with those changes in place.

I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to join you here this evening to thank you for the special vibrancy that you bring to this state .

Your work is your passion. I can see it in the creative ways you are finding to display our unparalleled heritage, our magnificent art and culture and our unmatched hospitality that bring people back to visit, first as strangers but as friends from then on.

It’s that sense of Montana familiarity that brings people back, time and time again. I look forward to working with you and for you in the coming years.

Thank you. Good night and God bless Montana.

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