Office of Tourism

The Division of Travel Development conducts a program of information, advertising, and publicity relating to the recreational, scenic, historic, highway, and tourist attractions of the state and assists in the coordination of the activities of public and private individuals, institutions, or organizations engaged in promotional activities. The Division works to increase the economic contribution of tourists visiting the state.

Publications are an important means for delivering information and advertising. Some examples of these are the Utah Scenic Calendar, which has been published since 1972, and the Utah Travel Guide. The Travel Council works with other entities to promote travel through various programs including Super Host, Welcome Centers, and Matching Funds Grants.

Publicity for Utah was previously handled by several other agencies. In 1941, the Legislature (Laws of Utah 1941, ch. 75) created the Department of Publicity and Industrial Development. In 1953, the Department of Publicity and Industrial Development and the Road and Tourist Information Office (which had been created within the State Road Commission by proclamation of Governor J. Bracken Lee in 1952) were replaced by the newly created Utah Tourist and Publicity Council within the Industrial Commission (Laws of Utah 1953, ch. 123). In 1967, several departments were co-ordinated and consolidated by the Legislature in the Utah Development Services Act (Laws of Utah 1967, ch. 175); this act created the Division of Travel Development and abolished the Tourist and Publicity Council.

The Division of Travel Development, commonly referred to as the Travel Council, is within the Department of Community and Economic Development. The 1967 Utah Development Services Act (Laws of Utah, 1967, ch. 175) created the Department of Development Services with the Division of Travel Development and the Board of Travel Development within that department. The Department of Development Services was later reorganized (Laws of Utah, 1979, ch. 234) to become the current Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and the Division of Travel Development remains in the Department.

The director of the Division of Travel Development is responsible for the administration and general supervision of the division. This individual is appointed by the executive director of the Department of Community and Economic Development with the concurrence of the Board of Travel Development.

The Board of Travel Development provides policy direction. It approves the plans for education, advertising, and publicity programs and for the coordination of the entities involved in travel promotion submitted by the director.

Funding comes from the Tourism Marketing Performance Fund. The annual appropriation for the fund is based on the economic growth in the travel and tourism industry, with a cap of $200,000. The fund is administered by DCED upon the advice of the Tourism Marketing Performance Fund Committee. This committee is comprised of five people appointed by the Board of Travel Development three of whom are members of the board.

Programs of the Division of Travel Development include marketing and advertising, research and planning, publications, information services, media relations, and inter-agency cooperative programs.