PENNSYLVANIA Rendell promotes state's river, mountain tourism

Presque Isle attracts more annual visitors than Yellowstone, an official said.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- As a mayor who badly wanted to attract tourists, Ed Rendell donned a white dress and blond pigtails for the city's millennium parade. Still very much a pro-tourism politician, the governor is promoting the state's rivers and mountains to attract outdoor enthusiasts -- and their tax dollars.
Proclaiming that Pennsylvania is "sitting on a tourism gold mine" in his budget address early this month, Rendell said the state will soon start to advertise its natural jewels, from Presque Isle's sandy beaches in Erie County to the Tioga Canyon in north-central Pennsylvania.
And he wants voters to help improve the state's outdoor assets, proposing an $800 million Growing Greener Bond Act that would invest in nature. The goal is to attract out-of-state tourists to the wonders of scenic Route 6 along Pennsylvania's northern tier, to cite one example Rendell used in his address.
As a two-term mayor of Philadelphia, Rendell was instrumental in getting the National Constitution Center and the Independence Visitor Center built, two gleaming new buildings on Independence Mall. Tourism leaders say his campaign could have just as big a payoff for the state.
"Whenever I go out and speak at conferences we are the envy of the nation because we had first a mayor and now a governor who truly understands the impact and importance of cultural and heritage tourism, and now outdoor tourism," said Patricia Washington, vice president of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
Rendell has said several times this month that the state's 3.8 million acres of parks and gameland generate $9.6 billion annually from hunters and fishermen. Tourism employs about 550,000 in Pennsylvania, where it is a $34 billion industry, behind only agriculture. The state's $35 million tourism budget is the third highest in the nation.
Out-of-state advertising is slated for this spring to get the word out about the state's natural sites. nities.