Projo Biz Blog

Predicting local tourism activity this year will be difficult, given the presidential election and the possibility of an economic recession, according to Evan Smith, president of the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority board today, Smith said he is struggling to project how busy Newport's hotels and restaurants will be over the next 11 months.

The 2008 tourism season, Smith said, "is one of the hardest years I've had to budget for."

Tourist-related spending generated $5.4 billion in economic activity in Rhode Island last year and accounted for 10 percent of state and local tax revenues, Providence Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi has reported.

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