PHOENIX - With the state's tourism industry under siege in the wake of a new law aimed at illegal immigrants, Gov. Jan Brewer is moving to "reposition" Arizona's brand and image.
But no one is sure yet exactly what that involves.
Brewer met behind closed doors Thursday with representatives of about three dozen tourism groups. She said she's not sure exactly what Arizona can do to counteract the effect of threatened boycotts in protest of the law.
But for starters she wants the group to figure out how to combat "mistruths" she believes have been told about the new law. And she wants some action soon.
In the first week after Brewer signed the bill, 19 meetings scheduled for the state were canceled, according to Debbie Johnson, president of both the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association and the Arizona Tourism Alliance. That represents more than 15,000 room nights, with an economic impact of more than $6 million to the state. Johnson said she hopes to have updated figures today.
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Brewer is unhappy and mystified any group would cancel its Arizona meetings, citing various national polls showing a majority of those questioned support the tough new law scheduled to take effect July 29.
A key provision of the legislation requires police to check the status of people they reasonably believe to be in the country illegally if they are under arrest or stopped. Another section effectively makes being in this country illegally a violation of state law.
Foes say that is likely to lead to racial profiling, even after the law was amended to preclude officers from using race, ethnicity or national origin as a reason for questioning someone.
Johnson said there are no clear ideas yet of what rebranding Arizona's image will look like.
"We're going to put together a task force to start to look at all our different options and what we can do to help bring back a positive image of Arizona," Johnson said.
Meeting participates have no idea how much a makeover will cost, or where the money will come from, but Brewer is willing to prime the pump with state tourism funds.
Johnson said businesses that benefit from tourism are going to have to dig into their wallets, too. She said the two associations she runs each have already put in $10,000.
Two options that won't be considered, Brewer said, are repealing SB 1070 before it takes effect or a counter-boycott.
Brewer she won't urge Arizonans to stay away from places like San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, which have passed resolutions saying they will boycott Arizona businesses.
"I would never encourage someone to hurt or harm innocent people," she said.
The governor said she believes that after the initial reaction against the law, some of the negative response may now be turning around because people were given inaccurate information about what the law does by people who hadn't read the bill.
