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Tourism Stars / Colorado Senator Jack Taylor and Representative Al White
Signing of House Bill 1201 - Made possible by Jack Taylor and Al White
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Colorado Senator Jack Taylor and Representative Al White
Tourism Star Award Recipient — 2006
The loss of state tourism funding in 1993 resulted in a 30% drop in Colorado’s leisure market share and an annual decline of $2 billion dollars in visitor spending. By 2001, Colorado ranked 35th among all states in tourism marketing dollars and was struggling to attract visitors. Colorado Senator Jack Taylor and Representative Al White recognized that without a permanent source of funding for Colorado tourism, visitor numbers would continue to fall and local businesses would suffer. These tireless legislators had the business acumen to understand what needed to be done, and the leadership and persistence to pull it off. This year they triumphed with the passage of House Bill 1201, creating the largest tourism marketing budget in our state’s history, a full 19 million dollars.
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