Oklahoma Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Tourism Matt Pinnell will ask lawmakers for a bigger marketing budget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDEefprbC4" target="_blank">Pinnell told OETA the state can’t afford to advertise to enough tourists with that budget and can't reach international markets like China and Japan at all. The tourism marketing budget is capped at $5.7 million a year.
"We live or die on sales tax. So, if we’re going to continue to be that sales tax–dependent, we better go after some of the easiest dollars to go after, and those are tourism dollars," Pinnell said.
Pinnell said he needs both an immediate increase and ongoing growth in funding.
"Couple million bucks is probably what we’re going to go for. I would love, in the future — in years to come, in the $8 million to $9 million to $10 million range," Pinnell said.
Pinnell said there is, however, some good news on the tourism front when it comes to Oklahoma’s state parks.
"We have a new online registration system, which, because of that, over half of our state park RV spots and camping are already reserved for next summer," Pinnell said.
Tourism is Oklahoma’s third-largest industry.
