R.I.’s Tourism Apparat

Every several years, Rhode Island debates whether it could attract more tourists with a more centralized tourism bureaucracy.

It would undoubtedly be useful for the state to have an agency that helps to market its several major regional destinations under one plan, perhaps with a single promotional logo or theme.

Of course, we already have such an entity, the Rhode Island Division of Tourism, which is an arm of the state’s Economic Development Commission.

Does the Ocean State have an official slogan for marketing the state’s attraction to tourists? Yes. It is “Beautiful Rhode Island.” Very true, but not very exciting. Most states claim to be beautiful.

After the 38 Studios fiasco, Rhode Islanders fairly wonder how much money was spent coming up with that indisputably true motto. Not much, because the division doesn’t have much money to begin with. But as its director, Marc Brodeur, points out, a unified promotional campaign would not come at the expense of the region’s separate organizations.

Rhode Island is a remarkably beautiful state with more attractions per square mile than perhaps any other. Newport, the beaches, Little Compton’s almost-English-style countryside, Block Island, the “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution,” in Pawtucket, the beauty of Benefit Street, in Providence — a state capital jam-packed with history, including the historic allure (in the annals of tourism) of “WaterFire,” which has become an international tourist phenomenon.

Rhode Island should concentrate on developing a campaign that points out how much the state has to offer visitors of all types — business and leisure travelers, foodies and history buffs, etc. — and how close it is to such destinations as New York and Boston, which naturally attract more visitors, and have more money to advertise.

The Ocean State should devote more money to improving a promotional job that already gets done quite effectively, simply because there’s so much to see and do in Rhode Island. Each of those places also needs more money to improve its own “product” and its marketing. The last thing we need, however, is a centralized tourism bureaucracy that micromanages or even takes over from regional tourism hot spots.

Luckily, it does not seem that anyone (not even at the Tourism Division) is calling for that.