Did Wrong South Carolina Public Official Resign?

I previously posted my thoughts on the idiocy and bigotry rampant in South Carolina where Governor Mark Sanford killed a tourist marketing campaign directed at gays in the UK, saying taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used "to promote any group with a particular social or political agenda." The state also said it would not pay the $5,000 tab for the marketing campaign. In addition, the employee at the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department who approved the ad has resigned (Voluntarily? I suspect not.), and Republican Sen. David Thomas has called for an audit of the state agency's spending.

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Meanwhile, of course, South Carolina has received massive amounts of negative coverage in the gay media and elsewhere worldwide. The reaction of travel and tourism experts: shock and surprise at South Carolina basically telling a $40 BILLION segment of the U. S. tourist market (not counting foreign tourists) to basically go f*ck itself. Hopefully, gay tourists will avoid South Carolina like the plague and tell their travel agents and the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (ddawson@scprt.com or medmonds@scprt.com) why they are doing so. Who knows, perhaps before it's over Governor Sanford will be asked to resign for his bigoted stupidity which will cause the state to lose increasingly scarce tourist dollars. Here are some highlights from Page One Q:

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The state officials' position has befuddled experts in the field of gay travel. "South Carolina is not typically known as a gay travel destination," said John Tanzella, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. "But there are things for gay people to do there. It's a beautiful state and that appeals to everybody." "The fact that they don't want to invest ($5,000) for the campaign for such a lucrative niche market to me is mind-boggling," he said.

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Bob Witeck, chief executive of Washington, D.C.-based Witeck-Combs consulting firm that specializes in helping businesses tap into the gay and lesbian consumer market, said a survey showed gay travelers accounted for about $40 billion of the $461 billion spent worldwide by U.S. leisure travelers in 2006. Gay travelers tend to stay longer at their destinations than other travelers and spend more money while they are there, Witeck said. Gays and lesbians also tend to travel more often than other tourists, he said. . . . . A statewide gay pride organization has said it plans to raise the $5,000 to pay the state's bill for the ads. The "so gay" ad campaign was done by OutNow Consulting, which is based in Australia and helps customers target gay consumers. The client was Amro Worldwide, which specializes in travel for gay clients.

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As I have said numerous times, bigotry needs to bear a price. I for one will make a point not even to stop to get gas if I am driving through South Carolina. Better to gas up in North Carolina or Georgia than provide a penny of revenue to such a bigoted state.