Massachusetts Senate Bill S.2248 sponsored by Senator Joan Lovely of the second Essex District, and others, would amend Chapter 23A of the Massachusetts Code so as to require allocation of Tourism Trust Fund grants to Regional Tourism Councils no later than 1 September annually.

This change would enable tourism districts to increase their advertising, event participation and other marketing efforts for the September-October shoulder season which is becoming increasingly important for both intrastate and inbound tourism.

While the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism is responsible for marketing the state as a whole, Massachusetts is divided into 16 tourism regions, each of which is marketed by a non-profit, membership-based Regional Tourism Council which undertakes advertising and marketing initiatives for its region.

The Regional Tourism Councils received from the State funding of about $6M in aggregate in FY2020.