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Federal New Life for Travel & Tourism? The United States Re-Shapes Itself as Top Destination Kevin Riley s the economic recession has continued to spread across industries throughout the country, ARDA’s federal team has stepped up its efforts to fight in favor of legislation that will help the struggling travel and tourism sector get back on its feet—and in doing so, provide a more favorable environment for our own industry to prosper. Last month, the U.S. Senate passed the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), a first-of-its-kind bill that would create a Corporation for Travel Promotion, with the ultimate goal of bringing more international visitors to the United States. Existing as a public-private partnership, the non-profit group would promote the United States as a travel destination in foreign markets and communicate information about U.S. security and entry procedures. Having received strong support from both sides of the aisle, North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan (D) joined Nevada Senator John Ensign (R) to sponsor the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 in the Senate, where it passed with a resounding vote of 79 to 19. Key Details TPA calls for the Corporation for Travel Promotion to devise campaigns to address perceptions that would limit travel to the United States, such as addressing potential concerns, uncertainty, and apprehension that visitors may have about security and entry procedures enacted after 9/11. The Act would create an 11-member board to devise PR initiatives, develop strategic plans, and create budgets that could range initially anywhere between $10 million and $100 million. The non-profit corporation would receive its funding from both private donations and a $10 user fee imposed on all in-bound international travelers from visa waiver countries. The fee would not affect those travelers from non-visa waiver countries, who pay for 36 their visa to enter the U.S.; it would be paid as a part of a traveler’s application for an Electronic (System for) Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is required for every visitor entering the United States under the visa waiver program. The largest opposition to TPA has come from the European Commission Delegation to the United States because they believe that the $10 fee, in combination with ESTA, may be considered as visa in disguise—with potentially negative implications on reciprocal visa-free travel between the European Union and the States. Since the terror attacks of 9/11, the United States has experienced a drastic decline in the numbers of overseas visitors; last year, 633,000 fewer international visitors came than in 2000, making it the seventh straight year that the amount of overseas guests remained at below pre9/11 levels. These declines in foreign visitation since 9/11 have cost the United States an estimated $182 billion in lost visitor spending and $27 billion in lost tax receipts. If the United States had simply kept pace with global travel trends, our economy would have created an additional 245,000 jobs alone in the year 2008. That has not been the case, however, as nearly every other developed country in the world has some type of nationally coordinated travel promotion campaign to attract foreign visitors. Countries like Australia, Greece, and Mexico have spent in excess of $100 million to lure foreign visitors to spend their vacation capital within their own borders. a well-executed promotion program, as outlined in TPA, would attract 1.6 million new visitors annually, create $4 billion in new visitor spending, and generate $321 million in new federal tax revenue. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reported that the bill will reduce the deficit by $425 million over the next 10 years. Joining forces with the U.S. Travel Association’s lead on TPA, ARDA’s federal legislation team is hopeful that the U.S. House of Representatives will now quickly pass TPA and thus create a rosier environment for the timeshare industry to flourish. An increase in international visitors that spend an average of $4,500 per person per trip—combined with the weak dollar— would surely provide a stimulating economic boost throughout the travel and tourism community from which we all stand to profit. D Kevin Riley is the manager of federal legislation for ARDA. His e-mail is kriley@arda.org. Opportunities With the implementation of TPA, the United States would stimulate economic growth and generate new tax revenues in every state and community throughout the nation, without placing a burden on federal, state, and local resources or costing the U.S. taxpayer a single cent. Oxford Economics has estimated that For more up-to-date information on TPA, please visit the U.S. Travel Association-sponsored Web site at www. poweroftravel.org. Developments • October 2009

October 2009 Developments

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2009 Developments

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