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Source: The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.自存倉Nov. 12--In the wake of the decision to sever the relationship between tourism and the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, City Council will be asked to bless the creation of a new internal tourism department and advisory board.Mayor Michael Gillette said Monday both sides made a good-faith effort to reach an agreement but were unable to settle on the terms of a new tourism management contract.The chamber has had a contract to manage the local tourism program since 1993. Negotiations to renew the contract reached a stalemate this year over financial terms.The city wanted more flexibility to set the tourism budget from year to year and proposed a contract with no specific funding levels required. The chamber said it needed stability to run a successful program and couldn't accept an open-ended financial arrangement.The city now plans to bring the program in-house when the current contract expires Dec. 31. City Manager Kimball Payne said he will make job offers to all current tourism staffers and hopes to make the transition as seamless as possible.This decision, however, follows years of on-again, off-again tensions between tourism and City Hall. Some tourism officials felt city administrators were hostile toward the program and actively working to undermine it.In an email to council, tourism board vice chair Lynn Fairchild Martin said tourism director Beckie Nix and chamber president Rex Hammond are owed an apology for the way they've been treated."Leaders from around the state are now shaking their heads at this," Martin wrote. "It's truly an embarrassment. These two have done more to directly benefit the city with much needed economic development than the city's own employees."In an interview, Martin said she felt the city administration never truly wanted to renew the chamber's contract and instead manipulated the process to take over the program."In my opinion, as well as most of the rest of the board members, this contract was set up to fail," she said.Gillette, perhaps the most outspoken critic of the existing tourism contract, said that was absolutely untrue."First of all, it's our tourism program, so to say anyone is angling to take over anything is a little bit of a misstatement," he said. "It's the city's tourism program, we pay for it, and we need to be able to decide how it's run. We need to have that control just like in any other city program."Gillette contended the city needed more discretion over the tourism budget so it could adapt to changing economic climates. Council's inability to change tourism funding levels during the recent recession had been a point of frustration for some.The city made an earnest effort to renegotiate the contract, Gillette said, but talks were unsuccessful. While it will be brought in-house, no significant changes or disruptions to the program are planned."We've had good success with the chamber over the years," Gillette said. "This doesn't in any way disparage that. We're happy with the way the program was run, and as I said, we're not likely to make any significant changes. But, again as I said, we needed to have more control over the financial decisions that happen over time."In addition to the larger financial issues, the city wanted to be in closer communication with the tourism program. When the tourism advisory board is re-established under the new internal structure, Payne intends to propose three seats to be created for himself or his deputy, Economic Development Director Marjette Upshur and Communications & Marketing Director JoAnn Martin.Including these departments will promote cooperation and synergy, Payne said. The a迷你倉visory board is made up of nine volunteers from the hospitality industry, local tourist attractions or other related fields.The board is charged with overseeing the program and approving its performance benchmarks and marketing strategies.Current board chairman Greg Starbuck said he felt the chamber did the right thing by declining the city's contract offer."The planning process and implementation process for this kind of work is years," Starbuck said. "You can't just jump in and out of things. Building tourism is a long-term endeavor."The city's proposal was a dramatic change from current agreements and would put the program on unsure footing from year to year, he said. "The contract wasn't built for success in our view," he said.Starbuck added it's regrettable Lynchburg's program will be going through a period of transition when key Civil War history dates are approaching.Next year will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Lynchburg, and the following year, the statewide sesquicentennial commemoration will culminate in the anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox Court House.Last week, when the tourism decision was announced, Payne said his plan was to make the transition as simple and painless as possible."I'm looking for them to walk out of one office one day and walk into the new office the next day with very little change," he said.Like Gillette, Payne said the city had no ulterior motives in the contract negotiations. He noted he had argued against bringing tourism in-house when the issue was hotly debated about six years ago.When tourism is moved under the umbrella of City Hall, it may incur some new administrative expenses, such as the cost of enrolling the employees in the Virginia Retirement System.But Payne said it wasn't immediately clear how VRS' costs compare to the current benefits package provided to tourism's five employees.In addition, the program no longer will pay the chamber for office space, shared support personnel and other considerations. The chamber was being paid close to $80,000 per year for the services it provided, according to city officials.The total financial impact of the changeover remains to be seen, but city officials predicted it would be modest."I've never represented that this would be cheaper," Payne said. "But I don't think it's going to be enormously more expensive."The transition plan is slated to come to council Nov. 26 for approval. Council will be asked to sign off on the creation of an internal tourism department and re-establish the tourism advisory board under the new structure.Starbuck said he was disappointed with the contract decision and felt the process had become damagingly politicized.When asked if he felt this was a negative outcome for the tourism program's future, he said, "I don't think it's positive. I think it's disappointing. But the future remains to be seen."Starbuck added he felt the program could continue to be successful provided all of the current staff was retained, tourism funding was left intact and the program was given the flexibility to do its job rather than being micromanaged.The tourism issue has been closely watched by local hotels, tourist attractions and other businesses that rely on visitor spending. Last spring, when a major cut in tourism spending was proposed, industry representatives rallied around the program and its staff.The tourism budget ultimately was set at $1.25 million for the current fiscal year -- a slight decline from $1.32 million the year before.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) Visit The News & Advance (Lynchburg, Va.) at .newsadvance.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage