Mayor Franklin Leads Tourism Efforts
By Tom McClimon
July 1, 2002
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the newly appointed chair of the Conference's Task Force on Travel and Tourism gave the mayors an overview of the importance of the travel and tourism industry to cities. In remarks at the Saturday luncheon, Mayor Franklin cited some facts on the travel and tourism industry. The mayor called for a "restoration of public confidence in travel and tourism" and cited the need to "jump start" foreign travel to the United States.
Travel and tourism generates over $1.3 billion in economic activity in the United States this year, the travel and tourism industry is responsible for over 16 million jobs, and travel and tourism produced almost $100 billion in tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments last year. In Atlanta, the travel and tourism industry generated over $300 million in tax revenues.
In an organizational meeting of the new Task Force, Mayor Franklin and her colleagues decided the Task Force should initially focus on influincing proposed federal legislation that would provide funding to states to attract foreign visitors; conduct a survey among mayors on the impact of travel and tourism on their communities; and establish a communications network among cities on travel and tourism and to work with travel and tourism industry organizations.
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