Department of Economic Development

Tourism Promotion Program

The Department of Economic Development administers a program promoting tourism in New York State. As part of the program, the Department allocates matching funds to local not-for- profit tourism promotion agencies. We examined the Department's allocation of these funds and found that improvements are needed. For example, funds are allocated on the basis of the local agencies' budgets, but we found that many of these budgets are routinely overstated. In addition, the Department reviews financial statements from the local agencies to account for their use of the matching funds. However, we found that the agencies do not submit the type of financial statements required by law, and the information in the statements that are submitted is not sufficient for the type of review needed to be performed by the Department. We also found that the Department needs to develop systems for promoting regional tourism as supported by the law and for evaluating the extent to which local promotional efforts are successful.

For a complete copy of Report 98-S-42 click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.