Tourism group’s funding request tabled

Eastern district, without state backing as of July 1, asked Mystic Visitors Board for $41,000

Members of the Greater Mystic Visitors Bureau’s board of directors deferred action this week on the Eastern Regional Tourism District’s request for funding help.

The district, without state funding as of July 1, sought $41,000 “to support District fulfillment obligations,” according to a draft of the minutes of Thursday’s board meeting.

“They didn’t say yes and they didn’t say no,” Ed Dombroskas, the district’s executive director, said Friday.

But, he added, he doesn’t believe bureau board members were receptive to the district’s plea.

“I was extremely disappointed,” Dombroskas said. “We laid out our current situation. We informed them that we are unable to respond to consumers’ request for information. We have no resources for the distribution of visitors’ guides.”

Tony Sheridan, chairman of the bureau’s board, said board members didn’t have enough information to act on the district’s request.

He said the bureau collects money from businesses that “enhance” their presence on the state’s tourism website and uses those funds to advertise outside the region.

“The district wants the $41,000 to be used for the fulfillment they have contracted to do,” Sheridan said. “Bureau members were trying to get a sense of what the priorities are. What do the contracts say? Can we renegotiate them? How much money does the district have?”

Lacking answers to such questions, the board decided to table the district’s request, Sheridan said.

“It’s not accurate to say we’re not interested in helping,” he added.

The bureau board did agree to meet with the district’s board to discuss how the two groups can work together, according to the meeting minutes.

In the meantime, Dombroskas said the district will continue talking to legislators and state officials about restoring some state funding to the district, which is now operating with “residual” funds from private sources.

Ben Barnes, the secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management, indicated a week ago that it

may be possible to shift some funding around to help the state’s three regional tourism districts, all of which were defunded June 30.

“We will maintain an office but that office may have very little activity,” Dombroskas said. “We won’t close our doors, whether it’s through volunteers working there or one staff member working one day a week.”

But such an arrangement cannot last, he acknowledged.

Eventually, the district’s office on Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic would have to close.