Sec. 44.33.125. - Tourism marketing contracts. - Alaska Statutes

(a) Subject to appropriations for the purpose, the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development shall, on or before April 1 of each fiscal year, contract with a single qualified trade association for the purpose of planning and executing a destination tourism marketing campaign during the next fiscal year. The contract may be awarded only if the qualified trade association provides matching funds equal to at least 30 percent of the state money used for the marketing campaign described in the contract. Unless the appropriation that funds the marketing campaign is for more than $9,000,000, the state money used for the marketing campaign may not exceed $9,000,000. The marketing campaign may promote distinct segments of tourism, such as highway tourism, seasonal tourism, ecotourism, cultural tourism, regional tourism, and rural tourism. Before the contract is executed, the marketing campaign plan must be approved by the department.

(b) The tourism marketing contract awarded under (a) of this section must include essential components identified by the department and may include media advertising, establishing and operating a system for responding to visitor inquiries, publishing and distributing information regarding vacation planning, establishing and maintaining Internet sites that provide tourism information, conducting market research, and other activities related to tourism that the department may designate in the contract. If the qualified trade association refuses a contract component requested by the department, the department may award a contract to another person to perform that component but only if the terms are not materially different from those offered to the qualified trade association.

(c) A qualified trade association that has been awarded a tourism marketing contract under (a) of this section has, while the contract is in effect, the right of first refusal for every other tourism marketing contract offered by the department. The qualified trade association is required to provide matching funds for a contract awarded under this subsection only if matching funds are required by the contract offer. If the qualified trade association refuses a contract offer under this subsection or fails to accept the offer within a reasonable time, the department may award the contract to another person but only under terms not materially different from those offered to the qualified trade association.

(d) If, during the term of a contract awarded under (a) of this section, funds from any source are appropriated to the department for tourism marketing activities in addition to the funds already committed under the contract, the contract may be amended to include the additional funds and the additional tourism marketing activities. The department may require the qualified trade association to provide matching funds in any amount for the additional funds, or the department may impose no matching requirement for the additional funds. If the qualified trade association refuses the additional funds, the department may use the additional funds to award a contract to another person but only under terms not materially different from those offered to the qualified trade association.

(e) The marketing campaign conducted under a tourism marketing contract awarded under (a) of this section must be directed by a group within the qualified trade association that is broadly representative of the various sectors of the visitor industry in the state and whose members are

(1) involved in a visitor industry business or have experience in tourism marketing; or

(2) officers or senior staff members of a state agency, a local government, or a nonprofit enterprise established to promote the visitor industry.

(f) Materials produced and marketing information and tourism related data generated by the qualified trade association under a contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section are the joint property of the qualified trade association and the department. However, the qualified trade association may, but only for the purpose of promoting the state, use, sell, or lease the materials, information, and data. In addition, the qualified trade association may only permit the use by or sale to another person of the materials, information, or data if the use by the other person is also for the purpose of promoting the state. The qualified trade association may impose other restrictions on the right of another person to use the materials, information, or data. If a qualified trade association provides the right to use a mailing list generated under a contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section, the list must be made available to every person at the same price, except that a person who is not a participant in the qualified trade association's marketing program may be charged an additional amount based on the amount of the qualified trade association's participation fee attributable to a participant's right of access to mailing lists. The qualified trade association retains all revenue generated by the association under a contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section.

(g) A qualified trade association shall provide to the department, on request, materials produced and marketing information and tourism related data generated by the qualified trade association under a contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section. The information and tourism related data provided to the department under this subsection are not public records under AS 40.25.100 - 40.25.220.

(h) A qualified trade association may not use money from a contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section

(1) to lobby a municipality or an agency of a municipality or to lobby the state or an agency of the state, as those terms are defined in AS 44.99.030 (b);

(2) to raise funds that will be used to lobby a municipality or an agency of a municipality or to lobby the state or an agency of the state, as those terms are defined in AS 44.99.030 (b); or

(3) for administrative or overhead costs that directly support any effort to lobby a municipality or an agency of a municipality or to lobby the state or an agency of the state, as those terms are defined in AS 44.99.030 (b).

(i) A qualified trade association may, pursuant to the performance of a tourism marketing contract awarded under (a) or (c) of this section, award a subcontract only on a competitive basis after providing adequate notice of the availability of the subcontract and considering all responses.

(j) In this section, "qualified trade association" means a private, nonprofit organization whose primary purposes include the promotion of tourism within the state and encouraging tourists to visit the state and that has a statewide membership consisting of representatives of all major sectors of the visitor industry, including hotels, airlines, cruise lines, wholesale and retail travel agencies, visitor attractions, convention and visitors bureaus, bed and breakfast enterprises, wilderness lodges and outfitters, and charter operations.