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I do not live in NM, however, I spent 6 weeks of pure enjoyment while travelling through NM in my motorhome. Carlesbad Cave, City of Rocks, Rock Hound State Park and Santa Fe to mention a few of the spots we visited.
In fact, I am returning in June to revisit NM and soooo looking forward to my visit.
And our Governor cut the funding for the NM Tourism department. Swell Just Swell
1. Which Governor are you speaking of?
2. Governor Martinez wants to merge the Tourism and the Cultural Affairs agencies to save the state an estimated $1.2 million yearly by reducing the number of top management positions.
I guess you don't object to a lot of "top management positions"?
New Mexico has 23 Cabinet-level departments. Nine years ago they only had 15... You object to trying to downsize a bit?
"Snooze. Close to Arizona. Arid and barren. Dull. Artsy. Dreamcatchers. Not a lot of activity. No beaches."
Except for the "arid and barren" part (it is and it isn't) they aren't so far off. I for one like it this way. NM is a good place to come to if you'd want to visit diverse and interesting landscapes and not run into a bunch of other people.
The mountains in NM are similar to AZ's... and I bet more people think of AZ being "arid and barren". Very nice forests and mountains in both states... but nothing compared to parts of CO where there are a lot of 14ers. There is an advantage to being *the* state with the most of something. CO can really play this up, and they have.
NM doesn't have anything like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, the Tetons, Yellowstone, etc. Face it... there is a lot of competition in the US for amazing landscapes, and NM just doesn't have the best.
It's pretty damn good, though... and handily beats most of the country east of here.
2. Governor Martinez wants to merge the Tourism and the Cultural Affairs agencies to save the state an estimated $1.2 million yearly by reducing the number of top management positions.
I guess you don't object to a lot of "top management positions"?
New Mexico has 23 Cabinet-level departments. Nine years ago they only had 15... You object to trying to downsize a bit?
Rich
Thanks Rich for the clarification. It's funny because an island state like Hawaii out spends NM in tourism with half of the population. Also Governor Martinez wants to cut back on international outreach even though International Tourist spend double or triple what an US tourist spends daily. Also in Hawaii, the film industry is also used as a marketing tool to lure tourism.
In 2010 at Balloon Fiesta, TX booth on tourism was bigger than NM. In 2009, at the World Expo, TX and HI were the only tourism departments in China marketing. Oh well, I guess we're not serious about creating jobs in NM. Watch the News and you'll understand why NM has an image problem. Most of the time they blow crime out of proportion.
NM doesn't have anything like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, the Tetons, Yellowstone, etc. Face it... there is a lot of competition in the US for amazing landscapes, and NM just doesn't have the best.
It's pretty damn good, though... and handily beats most of the country east of here.
I always consider Carlsbad Caverns National Park to be among the best of the best regarding national parks and have posted just that on other threads in the New Mexico forum.
I agree with Rruff. It is good. New Mexico has the third most combined total of national parks and national monuments, with Utah having eleven and Arizona having sixteen.
I really could care less what "responses from focus group members in Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles" had to say...
I think New Mexico could maybe benefit from tourism... Wait and see...
Rich
yep, just like Arkansas, the elite can say what they want, but there is a lot more to some of these rural states than they want to see. How about the richest place in the nation? How many know it is Los Alamos? How about the serinity (spelling) of the purple mountains again the dersert sky at sunset? There are things I do not like about NM but they get a crappy rap. There are things about Ar as well, but people do not realize all of Ar isn't the southeast delta. Since when is a beach or ocean required to attract tourists? I can think of a lot of wonderful, exciting things to see and do in NM.. When we would make the drive from Abq to say, Laughlin, NV we were always amazed at the beauty we would see on 40 until we crossed into AZ.l
Oh and as to alloo66, I don't think you completely understand what the governor is trying to do? She isn't attempting to discourage tourism..
Nita
NM doesn't have anything like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Zion, the Tetons, Yellowstone, etc..
Quote:
Originally Posted by joqua
How about:
Carlsbad Caverns Nat. Park, Guadalupe Natl. Park, Chaco Canyon Nat. Park, Canyon de Chelly Nat. Mon., Valles Caldera Nat. Refuge, etc...
How about:
The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is not located in New Mexico however the Guadalupe Mountains are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
How about:
The Canyon de Chelly National Monument is not located in New Mexico, it is located in Arizona.
New Mexico magazine cut staff not long ago (to save money) and now I see where they are advertising to hire for two new positions.
We've subscribed to New Mexico magazine for nearly 30 years and were seriously disappointed in the direction the previous editor and staff took the magazine. They had changed the focus to entertainment and seemed to have at least one major story a month on movies or TV programs made in the state, and it was often the cover story. That appeals to a small group of folks and likely doesn't help general tourism very much. So, I wasn't sorry to see them go.
If you want to see how a state published magazine can highlight the attractions and beauty of a state, take a look at Arizona Highways.
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