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DCVB Director
Staugler Talks Tourism with State Legislators
Columbus, Ohio—Matt Staugler of the Darke County Visitors Bureau, a
member of the Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors
Bureaus, joined colleagues from across the state on May
23rd for the 2018 Ohio Tourism Legislative Day. Staugler met with state
elected officials, including Ohio Sen. Matt Huffman and State Rep.
Stephen Huffman.
The day is designed to provide an opportunity for participants to meet
with their individual elected representatives and talk tourism.
It is a great time to discuss local tourism issues. This year
participants also informed legislators of the importance of funding
TourismOhio at a level that allows us to be competitive with
neighboring states.They were also askedto support legislation that
allows elected officials to serve on local tourism boards and a measure
that would set up grants for major sports events. That is needed so
that Ohio can compete for large scale events such as All-Star Games,
drafts or the NCAA final four. Those types of events bring many
visitors and positive media coverage to the Buckeye State. Legislators
also learned that tourism sales in Ohio topped $44 billion dollars in
2017 and that travelers’ spending supported 428,000 jobs last year.
“Tourism continues to be one of the largest industries in the state of
Ohio,” said Staugler. “The support the industry gets from the state is
critical to help our economy continue to move forward and support small
business across Darke County and Ohio.”
During a morning breakfast meeting attendees got a briefing on the
issues important to the tourism industry from the directors of the Ohio
Tourism Association, the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association and the
Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. Following the
legislative visits a reception was held at the Capital Club for
lawmakers and staff members where more talks about tourism issues took
place.
OACVB is statewide organization serving CVBs throughout Ohio helping
them to maximize the economic impact of tourism via effective
communication, industry education, legislative awareness, issue
management, trend identification and professional development.
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