Let’s Learn From Our Past Mistakes
According to the Washington Times @http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040118-114320-9103r.htm, Mississippi ranks #1 in public corruption. Other sources remind us that we rank #50 in per capita incomes.
When I graduated from St. Stanislaus in 1982, there were few desirable jobs in the tourism industry. The reason was because the tourists had felt deceived after their first night's stay on the MS Gulf Coast because of a real estate development/petroleum consumption marketing strategy. Foreign brochures encouraged tourists to change plans in the middle of their vacation, adding hundreds of miles to each vacation, with little exploration of the local allure. Local downtowns had died quickly.
The owners of our national chain hotels were actively cross-marketing their other investments in South Alabama and West Florida and generated absolute disgust in the MS Gulf Coast vacation, hence labeling us a “tourism trap”. By dissolving the assumed marriage between the accommodations and the rest of the local tourism industry, our economy was kept in a downward spiral throughout the 1970s.
In 1979, County Supervisors opted for a socialistic/beaurocratic approach to fixing the economic displacement and created the Harrison County Tourism Commission with a 3% tourism penalty tax. This was a direct assault on all concepts of living in a free market, whereby solution makers are given a chance to fix economic poroblems through better business/capitalistic leadership.
By creating this false economy, this fueled the profits to local national chain hotels that were causing our economic misfortunes, while the attraction, shopping, dining and golf industry continued to struggle so much that we lobbied heavily for gaming in 1991. In 1994, I observed that over 90% of all family tourism brochures picked up in MS Gulf Coast’s national chain hotels promoted out of state destinations. Family tourism businesses were going bankrupt, fast..and national chain corporations were making fortunes.
Unlike national chain hotels, condos/time share investments are not in a position to profit while divorcing the rest of the tourism industry, since they may have hundreds of investors that hold the management accountable for a great vacation on every visit, every day of the week, year round. If you are wondering what happened to your other casino attempts in the area, start by realizing that tourism taxes are working to keep us poor by spoiling bad accommodations management practices with high and unearned profits. In economics class, we call it a false economy. The poor will always be kept poor in a false economy.
If you want to experience economic alchemy in Lakeshore and Clermont Harbor, I have three suggestions: (1) Keep politics local and incorporate ASAP. (2) Endorse the development of condominiums with local appeal. (3) Since all the hotels are housing construction or casino workers right now and for the next couple of years, we definitely have no need for a tourism commission, so ask your governor to seize all coastal tourism taxes to help with other more important uses of this money for Katrina recovery. For more insight, visit http://www.tourismguru.blogspot.com/.
Henry D. Ward
Tourism Consultant
Tourismguru777@yahoo.com
