Should John Percy, president of Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp., be making another trip to India? Maybe. There’s no arguing the importance of foreign visitors in regard to local tourism.
Should his taxpayer-funded trip be questioned?
Absolutely.
Leading the charge is City Councilman Samuel Fruscione and members of the city’s Tourism Advisory board. He says not only is the trip too costly but going twice in two years seems excessive considering the city already attracts a large base of tourists from India.
The city provides roughly two-thirds of the agency’s annual budget through hotel room bed tax and casino funds. On average, that amounts to $2 million a year.
Our biggest problem with the whole situation is Percy’s response when asked if he would be willing to make public all receipts and expenditures upon returning from the trip.
Percy declined.
He said he’s concerned some would over-scrutinize the receipts and try to create controversy that isn’t there.
“This trip is a legitimate and worthwhile effort,” Percy said.
Actions speak louder than words and the refusal to make the records public immediately call into question the legitimacy of the trip — and makes us and everyone else wonder what this week-long foray into India is costing.
In fact, we don’t know much about the NTCC’s $3 million annual budget at all. Agency officials have insisted it’s a private agency and thus its finances are not a matter of public record, despite it receiving public dollars.
Fruscione is working to change that. He’s working with the City Council to pass a resolution requiring an audit of NTCC’s expenditures.
“Once we get an audit done, then we can make some final determinations of where all of this money is going,” Fruscione said.
And answer a few lingering questions in the process.
