2015-2016 Bill 5213: Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board - South Carolina

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 121st Session, 2015-2016 3 4 H. 5213 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Ballentine, Huggins, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Atwater, Bales, Bamberg, 10 Bannister, Bedingfield, Bernstein, Bingham, Bowers, Bradley, Brannon, G.A. Brown, R.L. Brown, Burns, 11 Chumley, Clary, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cole, Collins, Corley, H.A. Crawford, Crosby, 12 Daning, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Duckworth, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrester, Fry, Funderburk, 13 Gagnon, Gambrell, George, Gilliard, Goldfinch, Govan, Hamilton, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, 14 Henegan, Herbkersman, Hicks, Hill, Hiott, Hixon, Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, 15 Jordan, Kennedy, King, Kirby, Knight, Limehouse, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McCoy, 16 McEachern, McKnight, M.S. McLeod, W.J. McLeod, Merrill, Mitchell, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, 17 Nanney, Neal, Newton, Norman, Norrell, Ott, Parks, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Quinn, Ridgeway, Riley, 18 Rivers, RobinsonSimpson, Rutherford, Ryhal, Sandifer, Simrill, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, 19 Sottile, Southard, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Tinkler, Toole, Weeks, Wells, 20 Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis and Yow 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24725sd16.docx 22 23 Introduced in the House on April 14, 2016 24 Adopted by the House on April 14, 2016 25 26 Summary: Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 4/14/2016 House Introduced and adopted ( House Journalpage 10) 33 34 View the latest legislative information at the website 35 36 37 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 38 39 4/14/2016 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE OUTSTANDING 12 ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE CAPITAL CITY LAKE 13 MURRAY COUNTRY REGIONAL TOURISM BOARD AND 14 TO CELEBRATE THE THIRTYFIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS 15 SUCCESSFUL WORK IN SHOWCASING THE REGION. 16 17 Whereas, Capital City Lake Murray Country (CCLMC) Regional 18 Tourism Board is marking thirtyfive years during April 2016; and 19 20 Whereas, CCLMC’s mission is to promote tourism and the 21 region’s great outdoors for Richland, Lexington, Newberry, and 22 Saluda counties and to market and promote events that bring 23 visitors to the region and increase the tourism revenues for our 24 State; and 25 26 Whereas, with a staff of seven or fewer employees, CCLMC has 27 generated over $941 million in tourism revenues since 1981, using 28 some fortynine percent of its budget to market tourism through 29 television, radio, print media, digital online ads, and billboards; 30 and 31 32 Whereas, golfers, tour operators, and vacationing families find 33 scenic historical and recreational sites showcased by CCLMC; and 34 35 Whereas, CCLMC has received numerous awards for generating 36 $25,754,745 in economic impact as a result of the 2014 Forrest 37 Wood Cup with 43,000 visitors from forty states, a collaborative 38 effort with some twelve community organizations. CCLMC was 39 presented the 2008 South Carolina Governor’s Cup on Tourism for 40 the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup and Fantasy Fishing Competition; and 41

[5213] 2 1 Whereas, to ensure safety for boaters on Lake Murray, CCLMC 2 successfully obtained funds to maintain and provide reference 3 lights on Lake Murray, a project completed in 1990; and 4 5 Whereas, CCLMC has spearheaded numerous television airings 6 that have showcased the Lake Murray area to 578 million 7 households nationally and internationally in 20142015 alone, and 8 the “Come Alive” TV Campaign has lasted almost eight years; and 9 10 Whereas, national and regional tourism and travel publications 11 feature CCLMC’s fullpage magazine ads, while outdoor journalists 12 nationwide have been lured to the region to experience the tourism 13 attractions, and they return home to publish articles and produce 14 radio shows and blogs that assist the efforts of marketing; and 15 16 Whereas, CCLMC’s motorcoach conferences attract hundreds of 17 tour operators who visit the region and realize the group 18 attractions, resulting in over 327 motorcoaches returning to the 19 region; and 20 21 Whereas, numerous shows such as WLOS Asheville’s Road 22 Trippin’, SyFy Channel, and the Spirit of America have featured 23 the Lake Murray region, and Boating magazine named Lake 24 Murray the Best Place to Boat and Live in the United States in 25 2012; and 26 27 Whereas, CCLMC maintains a thorough Call to Action website 28 with over 3,200 pages for visitors and residents planning vacations 29 and outings in the region, and represents nine cities and towns in 30 the region on Trip Advisor, the premier travel site worldwide for 31 planning trips. Through paid advertising and marketing, CCLMC 32 produced over 78.1 million digital media impressions last year; 33 and 34 35 Whereas, CCLMC has funded and created numerous projects and 36 events related to tourism, including restoration of the historic 37 Lorick House and Lake Murray’s Fourth of July Celebration, one 38 of Southeast Tourism Society’s toptwenty Southeastern events; 39 and 40 41 Whereas, since 1999, CCLMC has lured thirtyone national and 42 regional fishing events to Lake Murray, paying out $12.8 million 43 in cash prizes to participants, and has brought golfers from Canada

[5213] 3 1 and Ohio to the region by creating Mountains to Midlands Golf; 2 and 3 4 Whereas, the unique purple martins on Lake Murray and 5 CCLMC’s creative marketing have brought visitors from across 6 the country during the summer to encounter the Purple Martin 7 Phenomenon; and 8 9 Whereas, through AtlantaVideo360 Productions, the making of a 10 documentary for SCETV will showcase lake living and the 11 historic, economic, and fishing importance of Lake Murray. Now, 12 therefore, 13 14 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: 15 16 That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, 17 by this resolution, recognize and honor the outstanding 18 accomplishments of the Capital City Lake Murray Country 19 Regional Tourism Board and celebrate the thirtyfifth anniversary 20 of its successful work in showcasing the region. 21 22 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to 23 the Capital City Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board. 24 XX 25

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