By By Tom McClimon
April 14, 2003

Action items contained in the Mayors' 10-point action plan on travel and tourism were featured over a two-day period in a series of meetings held in Washington, D.C. April 8 and 9th.

On April 8, the Conference of Mayors Travel and Tourism Task Force met and a travel and tourism webcast was held. Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley addressed the Travel Business Roundtable at the Conference of Mayors.

On April 9, mayors participated in a national summit on travel and tourism held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Chair of the Conference's Travel and Tourism Task Force, was one of the keynote speakers. In all the activities over the two day period, items called for in the Conference's Mayors Action Plan were discussed and in particular, the establishment of an international destination marketing campaign and the creation of a U.S. Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism.

The Mayors' 10-point action plan was put forth at an October meeting of the Task Force in Atlanta. Since its adoption, Congress has appropriated $50 million to the Department of Commerce for an international destination marketing campaign, and has authorized the creation of an U.S. Advisory Council on Travel and Tourism.

Driving the adoption of these measures has been the realization of the importance that the travel and tourism industry to the national economy. Some facts are:

• International visitors support over one million jobs in the U.S. travel and tourism industries
• Nearly 18 million Americans are employed directly or indirectly in travel and tourism- related jobs
• Travel and tourism is the first, second or third largest industry in 29 states.
• The travel and tourism industry produces almost $100 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues.

Travel and Tourism Task Force Meeting

Mayors participating in the Task Force meeting met with Jonathan Tisch, Chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR), and Michael Gehrisch, President and CEO of the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus where they received an update on the Mayors' 10-point Action Plan on Travel and Tourism. Most of the discussion focused on two items called for in the Mayors Action Plan, the establishment of a new Department of Commerce's international destination marketing campaign and the creation of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism. The Department of Commerce was recently appropriated $50 million to undertake an international marketing campaign to promote the U.S. and discussions are underway within the Department as to how to structure the program. Early reports indicate that the majority of the funds will be used to develop and market a unified advertising campaign to four countries. The remaining funds will be available to local and regional governments to conduct supportive marketing efforts. Discussions are also underway within the Department on how to established the Advisory Committee. It is anticipated that within the next 30 days Commerce will be making announcements on both of these two activities.

The Task Force members also heard from Ron Anzalone, Director, Office of Preservation Initiatives, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation about the "Preserve America" program. This program is a White House initiative to focus attention on preserving the nation's heritage. Components of this program include a Preserve America Presidential Award to recognize individuals, government entities, and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to the protection and interpretation of America's history. Communities can also apply to de designated a Preserve America Community for their efforts to link historic and cultural preservation with tourism. The program will also provide links to information on funding for historic preservation, heritage tourism, historic best practices and national preservation programs.

Kathy Rivera, Director of Industry Relations for the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) also briefed the task force members on the new "branding" campaign that IACVB is undertaking with its members to promote local travel and tourism programs.

Webcast

As part of the Travel and Tourism Task Force meeting, a webcast on travel and tourism issues was held. Participants in the webcast included mayors: Brian Aungst, Clearwater; Irene Elia, Niagara Falls; and John Street, Philadelphia. Jonathan Tisch and Michael Gehrisch were also panelists. Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran served as the webcast moderator.

A number of questions were emailed in during the course of the webcast, such as "How can mayors and convention and visitor bureaus create a better partnership? Mayor John Street responded, " In Philadelphia we do it as a team in order to protect and grow our hospitality community."

Other questions raised during the webcasts related to the proposed federal airline relief, the effect of SARS on travel and tourism, and ways cities can better promote themselves as destination places. The travel and tourism webcast can be viewed in its entirety by accessing the Conference's website; usmayors.org and clicking on U.S. MayorVision. The webcast was sponsored by Coca-Cola Company.

O'Malley Addresses TBR

In the afternoon of April 8, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, Chair of the Conference's Homeland Security Task Force, addressed the members of the Travel Business Roundtable at their annual meeting following their annual Board of Directors meeting. Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran is a member of the board. The Travel Business Roundtable is composed of CEOs of travel related industries and organizations.

In his remarks, O'Malley talked about the importance of the travel and tourism industry to his city and the need to provide for sufficient homeland security funds to protect both visitors and residents. The mayor told the assembled business leaders that governments and businesses needed to work together on seven fronts to have a sufficient homeland security program. The seven areas, as identified by the mayor, are: local intelligence network to share information, the maintenance of a single federal watch list of suspected persons and organizations, an adequate biosafeguard system, development of an emergency response plan, an inoperable communications system, an assessment of local infrastructure, and adequate equipment for first responders. The mayor pointed out the need to provide direct federal funding for first responders.

Later in the evening, mayors and members of the Travel Business Roundtable had dinner where Security of Homeland Security Tom Ridge spoke and Senator Ted Stevens, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee was honored. In addition to the mayors all ready mentioned above, mayors also attending the dinner included Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic, Chair of the Conference's Advisory Board; Patrick Henry Hays, North Little Rock; and Chris Bollwage, Elizabeth, New Jersey.

National Summit on Travel and Tourism

On April 9, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Travel Business Roundtable sponsored a national meeting on the state of the travel and tourism industry. The meeting was attended by a few hundred senior officials from the travel and tourism industry along with key government leaders.

Mayor Franklin Addresses Summit

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was the Summit's morning keynote speaker. In her remarks to the attendees, Mayor Franklin talked about the importance of the travel and tourism industry to her city citing the fact that for every one percent decrease in the number of visitors to her city, thousands of jobs are lost. Since the beginning of the war in Iraqi there has been a 10 percent drop in passengers at Hartsfield International Airport and a drop of 10-30 percent in international visitors at hotels. The recent SARS scare was also affecting business travelers going through the airport, the mayor pointed out.

In summarizing her remarks, the mayor stressed that the travel and tourism industry "is an industry that can not be allowed sag. As tourism goes, so goes the economic well-being of our communities." Mayors have seen the benefits of the travel and tourism industry to their communities in the way of jobs, tax revenues and the quality of people's lives, the mayor pointed out. As part of Atlanta's efforts to reignite the travel and tourism, the city is joining with Nashville and New Orleans to market the Southeast to international travelers this summer.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Holds Travel and Tourism Summit

Co-chair of the conference, Jonathan Tisch (conference hosts), spoke on these issues as he addressed the audience throughout the day. In addition to showing how vital the industry is, he urged the gathered audience to realize that "Travel and tourism is still the number one vehicle for job creation and growth in the country." What is needed is a growth of the industry to an inter-dependent set of businesses and governments, because when one is affected, all are affected. When people aren't flying on airlines, they aren't staying in hotels," said Tisch. He thanked the mayors and called them representatives of the partnership between businesses and other organizations, such as the Conference of Mayors, exactly the type of relationship that would be needed to get the industry back on its feet.

Congressional Speakers

The assembled executives and mayors also heard from a number of members of the public sector. Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid (NV) spoke on issues ranging from prayers for fallen soldiers to his feelings on the Bush tax-cut plan. However, a majority of his address focused on travel and tourism. "Travel is not just statistics, it is people," said Reid. He pointed out that in thirty states, the travel and tourism industry was one of the top three sources of state income. 18 million people, garnering over $200 billion a year worked in the travel and tourism industry in cities across the country. Due to the decline in the industry, 25,000 jobs per week are being lost, hurting not only the industry but also economies throughout the country, local and federal.

Senator Reid voiced his support for a bill in the Senate that would give $15 billion to local governments directly for economic stimulus. The plan supported by Reid will help local governments improve not only the travel and tourism industry but also vitally important areas such as infrastructure. Senator Reid told the assembled industry and government leaders that travel and tourism was a bipartisan issue, and whether a Democrat or a Republican, people need to know how important an issue it is.

Representative Roy Blunt (MO), the House Majority Whip also addressed the assembled group. Blunt spoke of the need to pass legislation to help support the struggling tourism industry, especially doing so in a timely manner.

Blunt also laid out plans to help economic recovery in the United States. "One thing necessary to get the economy moving, said Blunt, is a drive towards the future." Rep. Blunt said this was especially pertinent to the travel and tourism industry because they had not looked ahead before the attacks, which has hurt them further despite the problems created directly by the attacks. Rep. Blunt spoke of President Bush's plan to stimulate the economy, which he said would help individual people, and allow them to stimulate the economy. This, in turn, would get people traveling and help pull the travel and tourism industry back to where it belongs.

Secretary of Commerce Evans

A keynote speaker for the day was Secretary of Commerce Don Evans. Secretary Evans spoke on the need to get the travel and tourism industry moving again. He thanked the gathered executives and mayors in attendance for their hard work during challenging times. "My job," Evans said, "is to make it easier for the very executives and mayors I praised for getting the industry back on its feet." Evans spoke on how not only had the travel and tourism industry been affected by the September 11th attacks, it is actually a barometer for judging economic recovery. This showed how vital the industry was to the American economy, said Evans.

Secretary Evans emphasized the Bush administration's commitment to revitalizing the industry and what steps they have taken to help. Evans told the audience about the Commerce Department seeking applications for a travel and tourism advisory board to help disburse federal money throughout the industry. As one of the nation's largest employers the administration is committed to making sure that the "Vital Industry is thriving", said Evans. "We want to see the wind at your back, not in your face," concluded Evans.

Summit Wrap-Up

The afternoon was concluded with discussions of the second and third action plans. Tucker Eskew, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Global Communications discussed the second action plan, "Improving the U.S. Image Abroad".

Eskew focused on the challenges in the future for international travel and how the travel and tourism industry can breakdown the barriers for a successful future.

The third action plan, "The Implementation of an International Promotional Plan" was lead by Thomas Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts, Cristyne Nicholas, President and CEO of NYC and Company, Marilyn Carlson-Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Carlson and Companies, and Howard Nusbaum, President and CEO of American Resort Development Association. The speakers addressed industry leaders and what they can do to promote international travel to the United States and how they can work together with the federal government to be productive with the resources they have.

The summit concluded with Tom Donohue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, joined by Jonathon M. Tisch discussing what lies ahead for the travel industry. They hope to see a foster of private-public partnerships to turn around the travel and tourism industry resulting in job creation and economic stabilization. The Travel and Business Roundtable noted, "Investing in travel and tourism makes dollars and sense. Travel and tourism create jobs, generates tax revenues, produces trade surpluses, provides economic vitality, and moves people from welfare to work."