By Tom McClimon
May 24, 2004

"Mayors are in the forefront of travel and tourism issues" declared Jonathan Tisch, Travel Business Roundtable Chairman and Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels during the second annual Travel and Tourism Summit held May 12 in Washington (DC). Sponsored by the Travel Business Roundtable, which the United States Conference of Mayors is a member of, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the meeting brought together more than 200 CEO and senior level executives along with four Cabinet Secretaries, Congressional leaders, mayors, and other senior Administration officials.

Miami Mayor Manue A.l Diaz, Chair of the Conference's Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee, was one of the summit's keynote presenters. Alexandria (VA) Mayor William Euille served as a panelist for one of the breakout sessions.

In his remarks to the summit's participants (which can be found in their entirety under Reserved for the Mayor on page 3), Diaz challenged them to work with him to establish a federal post — a Cabinet level Secretary of the Arts, Culture and Tourism to a focus for travel related policies and programs. "Our nation lacks a clear and coherent federal policy for travel and tourism," stated Diaz. "We need a national advocate charged with the task of forming the national policy for tourism, arts and culture, and solely dedicated to the protection, development and expansion of this industry."

Other countries throughout the world see the logic of this reasoning and have established cabinet level positions for arts and culture and for tourism. Sixty'six percent of the countries in the Western Hemisphere have a Cabinet level Minister of Tourism. Fifty-eight percent have a Minister of Culture and Arts. An astounding 80 percent of the counties in Europe have a Minister of Culture and Arts. It is time this country give the travel and tourism industry this same recognition and stature.

Euille served as a panelist on the session "Tax and Technology Changes to Spur Growth." In his remarks, Euille cited the challenges faced by mayors and other city officials as they balance the growing needs for city services, such as schools, police, parks, and roads, with a limited ability to raise revenues. "Increasing the number of tourists helps to generate revenue in order to provide some of these services," stated Euille. In his city, the mayor pointed out, Alexandria has calculated that it receives $10 back for every $1 it invests in tourism. The challenge mayors face is to establish a fair balance between raising revenues generated by tourism, but not to raise taxes high enough that will actually cause a loss in the number of tourists.

Among the other sessions and topics that were covered at the summit were:

• Keynote addresses by Secretary of State Colin Powell, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.
• Presentation of the annual Leadership in Tourism Award to Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.
• Outlooks from the Senate and House featuring Senator Byron Dorgan, Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee; and Representative Harold Rogers, Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
• Presentations by Michael Gehrisch, President and CEO, International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus; Michael Kercheval, President and CEO, International Association of Shopping Centers; and Robert Crandall, Retired Chairman, President and CEO, AMR Corporation and American Airlines.