LETTER: Governor's budget cuts will negatively impact state tourism

In what has become one of the most turbulent budgeting processes in recent state history, Missouri's travel industry learned this week that the Missouri Department of Economic Development has ordered the Division of Tourism to cut $7 million from its current budget, an amount equivalent to 35 percent of the agency's appropriated budget. Of even greater concern is the fact that the cut represents nearly 64 percent of the $11.3 million in total withholdings issued by the Governor's office for the Department of Economic Development.