REP. LAUREN H. CARSON, D-Newport, recently received the 2022 James McCarvill Leadership Award from the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. The award, named after the late former executive director of the R.I. Convention Center Authority, recognizes Carson’s contribution to the organization and the hospitality community. Carson received the award at PWCVB’s annual meeting on Nov. 1.
What does receiving this award mean to you? It was a great honor. This special award was created to honor the late James McCarvill, former executive director of the R.I. Convention Center Authority. McCarvill passed away last year, and this leadership award now provides an enduring legacy and tribute to his strong leadership. I truly appreciated being in the company of the members of the Rhode Island hospitality industry. I am committed to working with them on the legislature on key issues related to this industry.
What did you do to help the hospitality industry across the state and how did the industry improve as a result? I have made several contributions to growing the hospitality industry in Rhode Island. Earlier in my tenure as state representative serving Newport, I chaired a study commission on tourism for more than two years. That commission highlighted the importance of the hospitality industries to the Rhode Island economy and brought their issues front and center to the legislature. The commission created a stronger advocacy voice for hospitality, and I was happy to build this with the industry leaders, many of whom have become good friends of mine. The commission raised issues – the rapid growth of the third-party rental industry, the strengths and weaknesses of our tourism strategies, and taxation and funding of our tourism promotion programs.
In what ways can tourism be bolstered for Rhode Island? While that commission is no longer meeting, I have stayed in strong communications with industry leaders as they struggled through the major impact of COVID-19 on their businesses and grew new creative programs to keep this industry active. I commend the tourism industry for the very creative techniques and programs employed in the past three years that allowed for rebound, stabilization and growth in some areas.
Is the hospitality industry still facing challenges? If so, what needs to be done to help support it? Tourism in Rhode Island is on a rebound from COVID-19. We need to keep the industry front and center in the legislature and continue to work to keep Rhode Island a fun and exciting place to visit. We must monitor and receive new funding and investments from the federal government, encourage the regional and state marketing leaders to work closely to align our marketing investments and programs, and most importantly, we must continue to encourage Rhode Island to enjoy Rhode Island! I hope your readers will get down to Newport or South County for a fun day or have a lovely dinner in Providence soon. We need to invest in ourselves.