Tuesday, March 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- The chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee suggested that the state Tourism Commission slash its out-of-state travel budget, calling the proposed increase "obscene."
"They've got enough to go to the moon and Mars and back," committee Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, quipped after the budget hearing Monday.
One person, he said, has $52,000 set aside for travel. "That's $1,000 a week," Arberry said.
The Tourism Commission wants to raise its budget from $61,000 this fiscal year to $138,000 next year and $142,000 the following year.
The issue was raised by Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, who wondered whether there was duplication.
Tourism Director Tom Tait said it is unlikely there is any duplication and told reporters after the hearing that the travel budget is justified. He said he will present more information to Arberry and the rest of the committee to back up the request.
The division, Tait said, is looking into new markets in Central and South America and Australia and New Zealand.
Those are the potential growth areas for tourism, Tait said. In addition, he said there is a possibility the state will join with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority next year in opening a tourism office in Mexico, whose economy, he said, is rebounding.
Brazil is now the sixth-largest tourism market for Nevada, and Ecuador and Chile present good potential, Tait said. Trade shows are being planned for those countries.
He said his employee, Brenda Hughes, who earns $48,000 to $50,000 a year, is the one who will be using the $52,000. He praised her work and said before state officials leave for trade shows, there are already appointments with trade wholesalers that produce many leads.
Still, Arberry told Tait to "revise the travel" budget.
"This is really big," Arberry said. "If you don't (trim), our staff will do it for you."
Tait, questioned by Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, said the naming of State Route 375 as the Extraterrestrial Highway has produced a 40 percent increase in traffic. But that's not much since there were only about 100 people a day traveling the route in the past.
The ceremony naming the highway attracted international and national news coverage, Tait said. And developers "are looking at the Rachel area for resorts. The future for central Nevada is very bright," he said.
Rachel is a town near the super-secret Air Force base where tests were conducted on the stealth fighter and other high-tech aircraft. Some believe it is a prime area for sighting UFOs.
The division also wants to create the position of a full-time racing coordinator to help rural Nevada, where 14 events are held each year. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she did not think a full-time position was needed for just 14 events.
But Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said the division has done a "great job" in helping rural Nevada stage the events. He said it's difficult getting the Bureau of Land Management to allow the races, some of which are conducted on federal lands. He said the division has been able to put together the necessary permits and other items needed from federal officials.
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