HLS 15RS-1503 ORIGINAL 2015 Regular Session HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 59 BY REPRESENTATIVE LEGER SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Designates Tuesday, April 21, 2015, as Tourism Day at the state capitol 1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION 2To designate Tuesday, April 21, 2015, as Tourism Day at the state capitol. 3 WHEREAS, 2014 was a record-breaking year in tourism with more than twenty- 4eight million people visiting Louisiana and spending a total of $11.2 billion; and 5 WHEREAS, 2014 visitor expenditures resulted in $836 million in state tax revenue; 6and 7 WHEREAS, the revenue generated from domestic and international visitors 8represents a remarkable 38-to-1 return on investment of state funding of the Louisiana office 9of tourism; and 10 WHEREAS, tourism and hospitality was Louisiana's number one job growth sector 11in 2014, and travel spending supports 223,000 jobs in Louisiana; and 12 WHEREAS, no state general funds are appropriated for tourism; tourism is funded 13exclusively by a dedication of three one-hundredths of a cent of sales tax; and 14 WHEREAS, the funds generated by this dedication have been and continue to be 15used by the Louisiana office of tourism to promote tourism to our state, and as a result they 16create enormous economic impact; and 17 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association board of directors, on 18behalf of the more than seven hundred fifty tourism professional members of the association, 19recommends that the Louisiana office of tourism budget be fully funded. Page 1 of 2 HLS 15RS-1503 ORIGINAL HCR NO. 59 1 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby 2designate Tuesday, April 21, 2015, as Tourism Day at the state capitol and does hereby 3express appreciation and support for the fine work of the Louisiana office of tourism in its 4mission to bring visitors to Louisiana and provide ambassadorial and financial benefits to 5the state. 6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted 7to the assistant secretary of tourism in the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. DIGEST The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)] HCR 59 Original 2015 Regular Session Leger Designates April 21, 2015, as Tourism Day at the state capitol. Page 2 of 2