SANTA FE — An increased investment in tourism advertising to retain and grow the presence of New Mexico True in a highly competitive destination promotion marketplace highlights the FY23 executive budget recommendation for the New Mexico Tourism Department.

The FY23 executive budget recommends a $28.9 million base budget, representing a $12.2 million increase from the agency’s FY22 operating budget. A special appropriation of $20 million to further boost tourism marketing was also included in the executive budget recommendation. These resources will allow NMTD to execute a 4-season campaign to drive demand for travel year-round.

Additionally, the executive budget recommendation also includes $848,000 for technological improvements to the agency’s four state-operated visitor information centers.

“New Mexico witnessed an encouraging rebound of tourism in 2021, demonstrating the incredible resilience of our leisure and hospitality industry,” Tourism Secretary Jen Paul Schroer said. “This executive budget recommendation for the Tourism Department will enable us to remain competitive in the destination promotion marketplace and build upon the momentum we saw in 2021 so we can get back to growing New Mexico’s economy through tourism.”

Since December 2020, New Mexico has outpaced the national average for recovery of visitor spending, reaching pre-pandemic levels of visitor spending for the first time in September 2021. As of November 2021, roughly 11,000 leisure and hospitality employees have returned to the workforce.

View the complete FY23 executive budget recommendation here.