Airport Taxi drivers, such as Larry Cox, above, are being trained by state tourism officials to give visitors a better first impression of the state. The tourism association held the first two training sessions recently at the airport.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

PROVIDENCE — Not all visitors find a welcome party at T.F. Green Airport, their names on placards and their rides idling by the terminal.

But anyone who lands in Rhode Island, tourism officials say, is entitled to a tidy taxi and a courteous, knowledgeable driver. If that standard is not met, after all, the visitors might not come back.

“Taxis are the gateway,” said Dale J. Venturini, president of the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association. “The first and last person they see sometimes makes their mind up as to whether they’re going to come back.”

To liven up the journey from Green Airport, the association has created a training session for employees of Airport Taxi, the company with exclusive rights to pick up fares outside the arrival exit. (Taxis from rival companies pay to linger in the short-term parking lot.)

The tourism association held the first two training sessions recently in an airport boardroom. At least 65 drivers participated, sitting for a 90-minute discussion about cleanliness and courtesy and soaking up details about the state’s hotels and tourist sites.

They left equipped with state maps and information about cultural events for tourists, business travelers and conventioneers with openings in their itineraries.

Eventually, the training participants will get a window decal to serve as a diploma — and to advertise the location of the state visitor center.

“It went exceedingly well,” said Martha J. Sheridan, president of the convention and visitors bureau. “The response was fantastic.”

Organizers plan to expand the program beyond the airport, saying all taxi drivers should be ready to give recommendations for places to eat, sleep and be entertained.

But even the savviest and chummiest chauffeur will disappoint passengers if the fare leaves them with sticker shock.

That is a growing fear for Evan Smith, Sheridan’s counterpart in Newport, who says the trip from Green Airport can run as high as $90.

“That hurts,” Smith said. “Our concern is that the transportation leg is expensive and somewhat outside the norm for the average leisure and business traveler. In some case, it can be a deal breaker.”

The convention and visitors bureau in Newport is studying taxi rates in other states, researching how to petition state regulators to lower taxi fares here or create an affordable, flat rate from the airport to popular Newport destinations.

Without a discount, Smith said, the state’s main tourist magnet could lose its edge. “It’s a critical issue right now,” he said. “I’m trying to build my case.”

Tourist-related spending generated $5.4 billion in economic activity in Rhode Island last year, according to a study by market researcher Global Insight.

The state’s Motor Carrier Division, the section of the Public Utilities Commission that regulates taxis, has no recent comparative data on taxi rates nationally.

Rhode Island taxis bill a $2 drop charge for the first one-tenth of a mile, and 25 cents for every additional tenth of a mile ($2.50 per mile after the first mile). To wait for a passenger or sit in traffic, taxis bill $25 per hour.

Those figures do not take into account a fuel surcharge taxis may charge if gas prices spike. This month, for example, many taxis are imposing an additional 50-cent surcharge on fares $10 or less and $1 for higher fares.

In a January, 2006, report by Bruce Schaller, a former transportation consultant who was recently hired as a deputy commissioner in the New York City Department of Transportation, a cab ride in Providence is more expensive than in all but one of 23 of the country’s biggest and busiest cities.

The average taxi ride — five miles long with five minutes of waiting — costs $16.35 in Rhode Island, more than everywhere on the list except Honolulu, where passengers must shell out $19.75.

Despite that disparity, taxi companies are preparing a request for a rate increase, the first since late 2002, according to Terrence Mercer, associate administrator of the Motor Carrier Division.

“My understanding is that there is one imminent,” Mercer said. “They believe it’s time for a rate increase.”

Although the surcharge compensates for gasoline price increases, taxi companies have been absorbing higher costs for purchasing and maintaining vehicles and for buying the additional liability insurance required since the 2006 legislative session.

There are 200 taxis registered statewide, with 111 authorized to ply the streets of Providence. The 92 certificates to operate taxis are held by 70 companies.

“A reasonable rate is supposed to cover the costs of doing business and provide the carrier with a reasonable rate of return,” Mercer said. “Just because the tourism industry thinks they’re high does not mean they’re not reasonable.”