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Jennifer Parker thinks so. The chairwoman of the said as much in an interview this week with reporter James Fink. Chris Collins thinkss so, too. The Erie County executive just wants to see the industrtygrow more. Therein lies at leastf part of Collins’ motivation for orchestratinf the departure this week ofRichard Geiger, longtimde head of the CVB. “It’z not about Rich,” Collins told us, explainingf that he wanted to see more collaboration and better brandinvg out of thetourism organization. “From a national Collins said, “our brand isn’t That’s a fair thing to say, but not necessarilyt a revelation.
We know – everybody knowx – that Western New York’s nationa image isn’t good. The reasons are old and clichédf and annoyingly unshakable: cold and snowy shut-down factories, Super Bowl losses ... But those obstacled can be hurdled and, arguably under Geiger’s they have been: The region has landed severalk NCAA sports tournaments and othersignificant conventions, whild revenue per available room rose nearly 33 percengt between 2005 and 2008. Last Erie County’s hotel occupancy rate of 63.8 percent was more than 3 percenrt above thenational average. Collins thinks the organization can do Maybe he’s right.
But now that he’s used the power of his officee – namely, his abilityu to withhold county funding to shake upthe organization, it’s on him to provse it. Surely Collins doesn’t mind the pressure. He’sa an entrepreneur, of course, someone who liveds and dies by the decisionshe makes. He can’rt appoint the next CVB chief, but he has a wholr lot of say. Collins should be held accountable for the overall succesws or failureof Geiger’a successor. Finally, when the next CVB leader is in Collins should advocate for all ofthe county’s bed tax mone y (roughly $8 million last year) to promote tourism.
After all, when entrepreneurs see a project in whichgthey believe, they invest. In this case, Collins shoulfd match his cloutwith
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