Roaming Gnome gets lost in Montana

Statewide tourism got a boost Sept. 14 when Travelocity announced at the Montana Economic Development Summit, in Butte, that it was investing $500,000 promoting Montana. The global travel company also said it would give $10,000 to the Montana Folk Festival, also in Butte.

Tourism has long played a major role of the state economy. More than 10 million tourists came to Montana in 2009 and spent $3 billion — an important contribution considering the impacts of the current recession on the housing and manufacturing sectors.

According to Travelocity CEO Sam Gilliland, the company's four-month long campaign to promote Montana began two months ago when it began showcasing the state on its Web site. Since then, hotels that advertise with Travelocity have seen a 40 percent increase in bookings, Gilliland said, while featured bookings have seen an 80 percent increase.

As part of the campaign, Travelocity's Roaming Gnome, a Santa Claus-like lawn ornament figure, spent eight days in early September traveling to out-of-the-way locations across the Treasure State.

Besides riding Whitefish Mountain Resort's alpine slide and donning a winter ski pass for Big Mountain, the Roaming Gnome dined at Eugene's Pizza in Glasgow, ran the Kickin' 10K in Great Falls, built a hay sculpture of his likeness in Utica and made appearances at the Magic City Blues Festival in Billings, the Bucking Horse Sale in Miles City, the Blues & Brews Festival in Great Falls and the Apsaalooke Nation's 92 annual Crow Fair in Crow Agency.

It wasn't all play for the clay-fired figurine. The Roaming Gnome joined 10 Travelocity employees in celebrating Glacier National Park's centennial with two days of volunteer trail maintenance work.

The Roaming Gnome also showed up at the Montana Economic Development Summit, in Butte, where Gov. Brian Schweitzer roundly criticized Travelocity over its tax payments to the state.

Schweitzer has recently escalated efforts to ensure that out-of-state companies correctly pay their state taxes, including online travel companies. In a growing dispute, the governor claims online travel companies have shorted the state on bed tax payments and fought other states in court over the same issue.

In response, Gilliland said he expects the issue can be resolved in meetings with Schweitzer's staff, rather than by writing letters.

Meanwhile in Helena, Montana Commerce Department director Dore Schwinden explained why former state tourism director Betsy Baumgart was fired in August. In the termination letter, Schwinden said Baumgart failed to spend $4 million in bed-tax revenue to promote tourism and movie making in Montana.

As a result, the money will become available to the Montana Legislature to address current budget shortfalls. Schwinden also claims Baumgart mismanaged two requests for proposals, was insensitive to protocol with tribal governments and improperly used a state computer.

Baumgart filed a grievance on Sept. 9 claiming her firing was politically motivated. She also responded to Schwinden's claims, saying she had trouble getting accurate budget information.