Mississippi tourism leader backs bill to make Visit Mississippi a cabinet agency

Danielle Morgan urged lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 2016 to elevate Visit Mississippi to a cabinet-level agency, saying the move would better align the state’s tourism work without expanding government, she wrote in an essay for Mississippi Today Ideas.

Morgan said Mississippi’s tourism industry generates $18.1 billion in total economic impact, supports more than 136,000 jobs and delivers more than $1.1 billion annually to the state’s general fund. She wrote that tourism is the state’s fourth-largest industry and a major revenue source for education, health care and infrastructure.

In the essay, Morgan argued the bill — formally the Mississippi Tourism Reorganization Act — would restructure existing functions rather than create a new bureaucracy. She said neighboring states such as Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas have elevated tourism leadership to cabinet level and that doing so boosts competitiveness, workforce attraction and community vitality.

Morgan noted that tourism now operates within the Mississippi Development Authority, which she credited with industrial recruitment successes under Gov. Tate Reeves, but she said tourism has different goals and timelines than traditional economic development. She wrote the bill would reduce administrative layers, speed decision-making and improve coordination at the highest levels of state government.

She also pointed to a 2019 move to a performance-based, dedicated tourism funding model and to federal pandemic recovery dollars as factors that helped Mississippi rebound in visitor spending and job creation. Morgan warned that remaining federal recovery funds are set to expire at the end of 2026 and said the reorganization would help Visit Mississippi compete and sustain revenue. Morgan is executive director of the Mississippi Tourism Association and has led its advocacy, education and promotion efforts since 2021, she wrote.

Source: Original Article