Flap brewing over RMPs

Vermont Business Magazine, Mar 01, 2005 by Edelstein, Art

Vermont markets itself through advertising in a variety of media, primarily to the Northeast. The primary vehicle for this is the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing headed by Tourism Commissioner Bruce Hyde. For a number of years preceding Hyde's appointment in 2003, when the administration of Governor James Douglas began, part of the marketing program included regional marketing organizations.

These RMO's task was to help distribute information to tourists and others interested in travel in Vermont. Former commissioner Tom Altemus developed the initial RMO program in the 1990s. The program was renamed the Regional Marketing Program and there are 11 such RMPs in Vermont.

The RMPs, according to the Vermontpartners.com web site, "is a nonmembership marketing partnership or organization comprised of one or more chamber of commerce, individuals and organizations within a specific geographic region.

RMPs apply annually for firm's made available through the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) leveraged by private sector funds - to: (1) coordinate and consolidate multiple, often overlapping marketing efforts within a region into one cohesive campaign aimed at attracting more visitors to the region and (2) offer marketing opportunities to all tourism-related businesses in a region regardless of membership with any organization."

Some RMPs are unhappy with the way funds are being allocated. One former RMP member, who asked not to be identified, said; "The sense is RMPs are going away although they still provide budgets. The state gets detailed information on how every penny is being spent."

According to this person, RMPs must fill out many forms as part of their commitment to the state. Ile complaint from this person was that, "Now the money goes for expenses not administration. So who does the work with a small administrative budget? The program is being starved at the administrative level."

George Malek with the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce spoke for the record. He, too, is unhappy with how the state runs the RMP program.

"The RMP is being squeezed and co-opted by the state," said a blunt Malek. "In the kindest terms the philosophy has changed with the Douglas Administration," he asserted. "The philosophy previously had been that the state would market out of state and at a minimum get people interested or visiting, and turn them on to Vermont. Then these folks would be handed off to regions that would be able to provide them the detailed information of things to do in their region and take care of them and make sure they had a good time."

Malek faults the Douglas Administration, which he says, "would like to spend as much money as possible placing ads. They decided the route to getting those funds was to not pay people in the RMPs to greet the people."

According to Malek, the average RMP budget distributed to the 11 regions annually is $750,000. But Malek said, "the Douglas Administration proposed cutting this by two-thirds to about $300,000 and the savings would go to out of state ads spent by the department."

Malek argues that by the state spending more on advertising it is really hurting its marketing approach at the grass roots level.

"It doesn't leave adequate funding to greet visitors," he said. "The state is basically telling the RMPs to do the work without funding from the state."

How does this affect Central Vermont? According to Malek, "it reduces the resources to do the hand holding." Malek's RMP receives $60,000. But, according to him, "the dollar amount isn't the issue, the issue is what you can use it for. The state wants us to spend the money on out of state advertising. We have a lot less money for local assistance for tourism."

Malek also believes "the RMPs will dry up and go away. It's incredibly top down administering with the Hyde's office deciding who designs the ads and where they go."

According to Malek, "they'd (Tourism and Marketing) like they money they give us back and they'd like to get some of our money too for advertising. I'm not happy with it."

Tourism Commissioner Hyde counters the assertion that the state wants to starve the RMPs.

"We have been vigilante that the money is used for the purpose of marketing not overhead or staffing. In the past dollars went out and were basically an entitlement and the recipients were free to use the dollars in any way they saw best. A lot of money went into supporting organizations such as regional chambers of commerce, instead of being used for effective regional marketing."

According to Hyde, the marketing study committee of the legislature had strong language to direct to the program to no longer be entitlement instead it should be merit based, competitive and piggyback on state marketing efforts. "We have $500,000 for regional marketing, and we are currently developing the criteria, application and evaluation methods to incorporate the direction the marketing study committee has suggested," said Hyde. "The money is divvied out based on a formula, the 11 regions know what they can expect, in a formula developed by chambers of commerce in the late 1990s."