How Could Washington State’s Tourism Board Closure Impact Real Estate?

Washington State is standing out, and not in a good way, as the only state in the country that has axed its state Tourism Board. On June 30, 2011, the state cut the state tourism budget to $0, effectively shutting down the office and leaving many to wonder just what type of long-term impact this will have on the state. Many state tourism offices in the country are betting that Washington will regret its decision in the long run.

“Our lesson to Washington is that it’s been 18 years since we went dark in 1993, and we still haven’t gotten back to the national market share we had,” said Al White, head of the Colorado Tourism Office, which lost all financing in 1993 and did not regain a steady revenue stream until 2000. “It’s really difficult to affect market share positively, but it’s really easy to affect it negatively if you’re not out there.”

But it’s not just the tourism market that the budget cut could impact; the lack of awareness could have a trickledown effect on the real estate industry as well. Many people who relocate, come to the decision to move because they visited their chosen home at some point in the past. They may have even decided do a little real estate window shopping.  But there are only so many dollars available for traveling and even when the money is available, there is so little time and so much competition that a state which doesn’t actively promote itself as a destination could be forgotten. And while Washington’s tourism numbers are up 30 percent in the past year, that could quickly change as the state’s tourism marketing fades to black and surrounding states such as Montana rush to fill the gap. When you want the best online marketing strategies, hire SEO companies from South Gold Coast.

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