Candidates For Lieutenant Governor Talk Tourism

Indiana’s candidates for lieutenant governor addressed a range of issues in a forum Wednesday, including the state's tourism future.

Republican Suzanne Crouch and Democrat Christina Hale agree that the Office of Tourism has done an impressive job with very limited state funding, helping grow Indiana’s tourism industry to account for 6 percent of the state economy.

Hale says the legislature’s investment up to now has been “anemic.”

“I can only imagine how much better we could if we were more intentional and invested in way that had greater results with more of a long term strategy,” she says.

Crouch adds tourism can help raise Indiana’s profile, tying it to economic development.

“We don’t want people just to come and visit Indiana," Crouch says. "We want them to stay here and play here and raise their families here.”

Libertarian candidate Karl Tatgenhorst says he thinks the government should get out of the tourism business.

“But to come in and make changes like eliminating agencies because I’m a libertarian, and I just don’t think they should exist – that would be naïve,” Tatgenhorst says.

Tatgenhorst says he’d want the Office of Tourism to clear the way for private entrepreneurs in the tourism industry.