Despite budget cuts that restrict travel, the Department of Commerce spent about $1000 to send its assistant secretary for tourism to Oregon for a national conference.
Assistant Secretary Lynn Minges was there for a meeting of the U.S. Travel Association's board of directors. The conference, which ran from July 22-26, brought together government and private industry representatives to talk about policies such as cooperative marketing.
"We have, like every other department, certainly curtailed our travel spending," said Kathy Neal, the commerce department's assistant secretary for communications and external affairs. "This was one time where the opportunity to work in person would really determine the success of the meeting."
Neal said the conference was an opportunity to work with other tourism groups to find ways to spend advertising dollars more efficiently for one of the state's largest industries.
"We really want to be in on the ground floor for these discussions about how we can best leverage advertising and business expenses," she said.
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