PTLA InfoBlast

Legislative Update

The Pennsylvania General Session is back and there continue to be many legislative issues that are before the General Assembly that are critically important to our industry - many of these issues will be debated and discussed this Fall.

The PTLA Board and various membership committees continue to be actively engaged in all of the issues that affect the Tourism industry. We will be keeping you updated throughout the legislation session on those issues that will have an impact on your business. We continue to ask you for your support, involvement and feedback.

We wanted to highlight two specific issues for you're this week:

Pennsylvania Tourism Commission
PTLA in partnership with the Pennsylvania Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (PACVB) and other tourism associations has been working with Representative Jerry Stern, (Blair County) the new House Tourism Committee Chairman to introduce legislation creating an independent Pennsylvania Tourism Commission that would be the state's official tourism marketing agency.

This is a model that has been created at the national level and has worked well in a number of other states. The existence of a Pennsylvania Tourism Commission we believe will provide greater alignment across the tourism industry, a better opportunity to create partnerships that work well and more consistency in the marketing and promotion efforts of Pennsylvania as a destination.

Promoting Pennsylvania as a travel destination is currently a responsibility of DCED. With tourist dollars becoming increasingly more important to local economies across the state, we believe it is time for Pennsylvania to transfer this responsibility to a public-private partnership made up of tourism marketing professionals and industry stakeholders.

Representative Stern held a public hearing of the House Tourism Committee on this draft legislation on Wednesday - September 21st in State College. PTLA Chairman - Jim Purdum was there and testified at that hearing on behalf of PTLA. Chairman Stern intends to hold several other public hearings in the near future to offer us additional opportunities for our industry to offer feedback and input on this initiative.

This bill has not been formally introduced at this point by Chairman Stern - throughout these hearings we will be gathering feedback and input and then making any recommended changes to the legislation before it is formally introduced in the House of Representatives.

Click on the following links for a copy of this legislation, a legislative summary and a FAQ sheet.

Stay tuned for more information to come and please reach out to Rob Fulton if you have any questions or feedback - rob@pacvb.org or 717-901-0251.

Transportation Funding for Pennsylvania -
Need for a Reliable Transportation System for our Industry
Because our transportation infrastructure is so vital to the travel and tourism sector of the economy PTLA are members of the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition, a diverse group of transportation system supporters advocating for a comprehensive solution to Pennsylvania's transportation funding problem.

The Coalition supports a long-term solution for Pennsylvania's transportation funding needs. We support finding a viable, sustainable solution to the transportation funding shortfall rather than a temporary fix.

One of Pennsylvania's competitive advantages is its proximity to markets and visitors. More than 85% of our visitors come by roads and rail. Thus, Pennsylvania's transit systems and passenger rail lines are vital aspects of our transportation infrastructure along with roads and bridges.

Absent a safe, well-maintained, efficient transportation system, our travel and tourism economy suffers. Visitors cannot get to our locations. Our business partners lose time and money moving their goods and services to our locations.

The House Tourism Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday - October 4th at 9:00 am to hear from industry representatives on why transportation funding and a reliable infrastructure are so important to the tourism industry.

We would encourage you to visit the following website and show your support for transportation funding and our industries need for a reliable transportation system in Pennsylvania: www.bettersaferroads.com. You can also visit www.reconnectpa.org to report any transportation issues in your county.