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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7306
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING RE COMMENDATIONS FROM T HE SPEAKER
OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES' BLU E RIBBON
COMMISSION ON TOURIS M.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-399 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) As used in this section: "Visitor welcome center" means the 3
welcome centers, visitor centers and tourist information centers 4
located in West Willington, Greenwich, Danbury, Darien, North 5
Stonington and Westbrook, which have been established to distribute 6
information to persons traveling in the state for the purpose of 7
influencing such persons' level of satisfaction with the state and 8
expenditures in the state and their planning for present and future 9
trips to the state. 10
(b) [Within available appropriations, the] The following measures 11
shall be implemented to enhance the operation of visitor welcome 12
centers: 13
(1) Each center shall make available space for listing events and 14
promoting attractions, by invitation to the Connecticut tourism 15
industry, including tourism districts, chambers of commerce and any 16
other tourism entities involved in Connecticut tourism promotion; 17 Substitute Bill No. 7306
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(2) The Department of Economic and Community Development, in 18
consultation with the Department of Transportation, shall develop 19
plans for (A) consistent signage for the visitor welcome centers, and (B) 20
highway signage regulations for privately operated centers. Signage 21
for the visitor welcome centers shall indicate the hours during which 22
the visitor welcome centers are open; 23
(3) The Department of Transportation and the Department of 24
Economic and Community Development shall establish an "Adopt A 25
Visitor Welcome Center" program, under which local civic 26
organizations may provide maintenance, gardening, including 27
wildflowers, and complimentary refreshments or any other type of 28
service at a visitor welcome center to enhance the operation of the 29
center; 30
(4) The Department of Economic and Community Development 31
shall place a full-time year-round supervisor and a part-time assistant 32
supervisor at the Danbury, Darien, North Stonington and West 33
Willington centers. The responsibilities of each supervisor shall 34
include, but not be limited to: (A) Maintaining a sufficient inventory of 35
up-to-date brochures for dissemination to visitors, (B) scheduling staff 36
so as to assure coverage at all times, (C) training staff, (D) compiling 37
and maintaining statistics on center usage, (E) serving as liaison 38
between the department, the Department of Transportation, the 39
tourism district in which the center is located and businesses in such 40
district, (F) maintaining quality tourism services, (G) rotating displays, 41
(H) evaluating staff, (I) problem-solving, and (J) computing travel 42
reimbursements for volunteer staff; 43
(5) [Subject to available funds, the] The Department of Economic 44
and Community Development shall place a seasonal full -time 45
supervisor and a seasonal part-time assistant supervisor at the 46
Greenwich and Westbrook centers. The department shall discontinue 47
staffing at the Middletown, Plainfield and Wallingford centers, and 48
shall, in conjunction with the tourism industry, seek contract workers 49
to provide tourism services at the Westbrook center when not staffed 50 Substitute Bill No. 7306
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by the state; 51
(6) [Subject to available funds, the] The Department of Economic 52
and Community Development, in conjunction with the tourism 53
industry, shall develop and implement initial staff training and 54
conduct periodic training of full-time and part-time supervisors; [.] 55
(7) The restroom facilities located at each visitor welcome center 56
shall be open twenty-four hours a day. 57
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established within 58
the Department of Economic and Community Devel opment, for 59
administrative purposes only, a Connecticut Tourism Council. The 60
council shall consist of (1) the Commissioner of Economic and 61
Community Development, or the commissioner's designee, (2) the 62
Commissioner of Transportation, or the commissioner's designee, (3) 63
the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, or the 64
commissioner's designee, (4) twelve members appointed by the 65
Governor, (A) one of whom shall represent the lodging industry, (B) 66
one of whom shall represent a chamber of commerce, (C) one of whom 67
shall represent a tourist attraction, (D) one of whom shall represent the 68
arts, (E) one of whom shall represent a culturally diverse event or 69
attraction, (F) one of whom shall represent the heritage tourism 70
industry, (G) one of whom shall represent the airline industry, (H) one 71
of whom shall represent the Connecticut Airport Authority, (I) one of 72
whom shall represent a convention center and sports arena trade 73
organization, (J) one of whom shall represent a charter bus trade 74
organization, and (K) two of whom shall represent casino gaming 75
facilities, (5) twelve members appointed as follows: (A) Two by the 76
president pro tempore of the Senate, (B) two by the majority leader of 77
the Senate, (C) two by the minority leader of the Senate, (D) two by the 78
speaker of the House of Representatives, (E) two by the majority leader 79
of the House of Representatives, and (F) two by the minority leader of 80
the House of Representatives. The twelve members appointed 81
pursuant to subdivision (5) of this subsection shall represent one of the 82
following industries: (i) Agritourism, (ii) convention center and 83 Substitute Bill No. 7306
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coliseum, (iii) destination shopping, (iv) restaurant, (v) events, (vi) 84
attractions, (vii) lodging, (viii) marine trades, (ix) outdoor recreation, 85
(x) museum, or (xi) tour and travel. All members appointed by the 86
Governor shall serve a term of four years. The terms of all members 87
appointed by members of the General Assembly shall be coterminous 88
with the terms of such members of the General Assembly. The 89
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall serve 90
as chairperson of the council. 91
(b) The council shall: (1) Adopt procedures for the operation of the 92
council; (2) review and approve or recommend changes to the strategic 93
marketing plan developed by the Department of Economic and 94
Community Development pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) 95
of section 10-392 of the general statutes; and (3) not later than January 96
1, 2021, and annually thereafter, submit a report describing tourism 97
promotion efforts by the state and evaluating the marketing plan, 98
developed by the Department of Economic and Community 99
Development pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 100
10-392 of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the 101
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, 102
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 103
statutes. 104
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section, 105
"wayfinding signage" includes, but is not limited to, signs on limited 106
access highways indicating attractions and services of lodging, food, 107
information and fuel. 108
(b) The Commissioner of Transportation shall conduct a study 109
relating to wayfinding signage in the state. Such study shall include, 110
but need not be limited to, an examination of the standards for or 111
regulation of advertising of local businesses on such signage. Not later 112
than February 1, 2020, the commissioner shall submit a report of the 113
results of such study, including recommended changes to the 114
standards for or regulation of advertising of local businesses on 115
wayfinding signage, to the joint standing committees of the General 116 Substitute Bill No. 7306
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Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce and 117
transportation, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of 118
the general statutes. 119
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 10-399
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
CE Joint Favorable Subst.