Gov. Bryant Pushes for More Tourism Money in State Budget

Tourism is a large part of what drives the Gulf Coast’s economy and is important to many local business owners. Governor Phil Bryant has announced that he is going to ask for $5.1 million more in the next state budget to go towards tourism.

Right now, the total tourism budget is $3 million. Local representatives of the state legislature are very excited Bryant wants to make such a large investment, getting more people to visit the Magnolia State. They plan to not only push the funding through the House, but through the Senate as well.

Representative Patricia Willis, (R) District 95, says, “Well, we’re going to push hard on Herb Frierson and Buck Clark to get them to give us that money so we can use it and make more money for Mississippi.”

Representative Willis says every dollar spent on tourism brings back $6.64 into the local economy. The new legislative session starts on January 6th, 2015.