Tourism Study Commission to Meet in Newport

NEWPORT, RI—A special House commission that is monitoring the state's tourism efforts will meet Friday at the Old Colony House in Newport.

The meeting is open to the public and will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The commission, formally named "The Special Legislative Commission to Study Methods for Growing Tourism in the State of Rhode Island Through Coordinated Branding and Marketing Efforts," has been grilling CommerceRI officials over rocky rollout of a statewide tourism campaign earlier this year that made headlines for a strange "Cooler and Warmer" slogan and website errors, among other issues.

At the Friday meeting, members of the commission, which is led by Newport Rep. Lauren Carson, will hear from the new chief marketing officer of CommerceRI, Lara Salamano. They'll also get an update on the statewide tourism campaign and learn about the Old Colony House.

Ruth Taylor of the Newport Historical Society will give a presentation about the historic building, which was a meeting place for the state's colonial legislature and one of the places they met before the State House was built in Smith Hill in Providence in 1901.

“I am bringing my next study commission meeting to Newport because tourism is the lifeblood of our economy and because citizens’ participation in state government matters,” Carson said. “A smart and sustainable tourism industry is vital to Newport, our small businesses and our local economy, and I invite all those who are interested in the way it’s presented to potential visitors.”

The commission was organized to study Rhode Island’s tourism industry and make recommendations for cultivating it through statewide coordinated branding and marketing efforts. The goals of the commission for the remainder of this year have been expanded by the House to include a review of the distribution of the hotel tax, to explore a new framework for statewide management of tourism and to design ways to measure the results of our statewide marketing strategy.

Photo courtesy: Newport Historical Society