Tourism cuts don’t ‘ad’ up

After forecasts of successive years of running deficits, last week was about nothing but belt-tightening at Confederation Building. “Less is more” was the prevailing attitude in the House of Assembly, where in one fell swoop it was announced that the public sector would shed 1,200 positions, the province’s English-language school boards would be amalgamated, and the public libraries system would lose 10 per cent of its annual operating budget.

One of this year’s most surprising budget cuts occurred at the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, where Minister Terry French announced $4 million in impending spending reductions affecting his department’s marketing division. The cutbacks, which work out to be roughly 30 per cent of the province’s annual tourism marketing budget, will particularly affect the government’s popular Find Yourself promotional campaign. Budget cuts to the campaign will either mean that less airtime will be purchased for tourism commercials or that ad production will cease completely.

While I understand the government’s need for budget trimming, was tourism marketing the right place to look for cost savings?

Since its launch in 2006, the Find Yourself campaign has been hugely successful. TV spots created as part of the campaign are visibly stunning, strikingly profound and remarkably able to showcase Newfoundland and Labrador’s natural beauty and cultural nuances. Thanks to the quality of the campaign, Newfoundland and Labrador tourism ads have garnered acclaim from resident and critics alike, the latter having awarded it 183 awards to date. Most importantly, the campaign supports what has become a thriving industry in the province.

Tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador has experienced steady growth in the past number of years, becoming one of province’s most important sectors. Continued development in the industry allowed the province to reach a milestone in 2012, when tourism in Newfoundland and Labrador broke the $1-billion-dollar-a-year mark for the first time ever. That same year, visitors to the province jumped by 10 per cent, while spending in the province rose eight per cent.

According to French, the government hopes to swell the province’s tourism industry into a $1.6-bilion-a-year enterprise by 2020. Unfortunately, cutting from tourism spending at this stage of the game will only serve to undercut this government initiative. Now is the time to capitalize on the success of previ- ous years and to continue to develop the industry. A poorly timed $4 million funding cut should not be the reason for the slowdown of a $1 billion industry responsible for attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to the province each year.

The poor timing of this particular budget cut becomes even more obvious once you consider the current state of the province’s finances. As provincial coffers become more and more directly affected by the volatility of oil prices, supporting thriving industries such as tourism is becoming more important than ever to ensuring the province’s financial security. In doing so, the government not only avoids putting all its eggs in one basket by becoming too focused on natural resources, but also secures a reliable return on investment. Providing continued funding for tourism marketing will have a direct impact on the amount of visitors to the province, and consequently the resulting amount of economic activity that takes place during the tourist season. What’s more, diversifying our economy by investing in other sectors means a budget less dictated by the price of crude, meaning more autonomy for the province come budget time.

Ironically, imposing cutbacks on tourism promotion initiatives such as the Free Yourself campaign could actually have a negative impact on provincial finances in the long run. Divesting from the tourism industry at this point, when interest in visiting Newfoundland and Labrador is surging amongst tourists, would be a lost opportunity. Yes, $4 million is a substantial amount of money, but it is a pittance compared to the size and scope of the industry relying on the government to bring tourist traffic to the province.