Senate Bill No. 572
(By Senators Rowe and McCabe)
____________
[Introduced February 19, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-7a, relating to
developing a statewide tourism destination development plan.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-7a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
§5B-2-7a. Statewide tourist destination development plan.
(a) The council for community and economic development, in
consultation with the tourism commission, shall develop a
comprehensive tourist destination development strategy for West
Virginia. "Comprehensive tourist destination development strategy
for West Virginia" means a written plan for the state and its
regions that outlines the strategies and activities designed to continue to diversify and expand the number and type of tourist
destinations of the state as a whole and in its various regions,
including, but not limited to, the long-term and short-term goals
of expanding tourism and facilitating tourist destination
development; creating benchmarks for measuring progress in
achieving these goals; developing a highly skilled tourism business
work force; facilitating access to capital for tourist destination
development; facilitating cooperation among federal, state,
regional, local and private agencies and enterprises; improving
infrastructure at the state, regional and community levels;
encouraging use of the full array of resources, sites and
traditions of the state to attract and accommodate tourists
interested in recreation, history, culture, arts, music, industry,
ethnic and racial diversity, health, relaxation, leisure, travel
generally, and professional and personal growth; improving the
tourism business climate; and encouraging funding from a variety of
sources including federal, local and private sources.
(b) The council for community and economic development shall
report on its progress in completing a tourist destination
development plan for West Virginia to the governor, the president
of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates on or
before the first day of January, two thousand five, and it shall
complete and present its final plan to the governor, the president
of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates on or before the first day of January, two thousand six.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the council for
community and economic development and the tourism commission to
establish a comprehensive destination development strategy for West
Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.