By Tom McClimon
September 29, 2008

The Travel Promotion Act, a measure strongly backed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to promote foreign travel to the U.S., won approval September 24 from the U.S. House of Representatives, following passage by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last week.

“Mayors have long recognized the value of promoting travel to our local economies and that is why the Conference of Mayors has longed supported passage of the Travel Promotion Act. This action by the House of Representatives puts the United States on the same footing as the rest of the major countries in the world in promoting travel and tourism to their cities. Passage by the Senate would help to ignite our nation’s economy and create thousands of new jobs in our cities,” said Conferece of Mayors President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

“We are very pleased that this important legislation is moving forward to boost the visitor industry and help improve our nation’s economy,” said Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Chairman of the Conference’s Standing Committee on Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports. “We’re grateful to the House for endorsing this effort. We will continue working hard to win approval by the Senate.”

The measure would establish a Corporation for Travel Promotion as a nonprofit entity to promote the U.S. as a premier international travel destination, provide information to people interested in traveling to here, and identify and address perceptions in other countries regarding U.S. entry policies. The bill specifies that travel promotion would be financed through private sector contributions and a modest fee on foreign travelers, with no cost to U.S. taxpayers. Nearly every developed nation in the world spends millions of dollars each year to attract visitors.

The Conference urged creation of the Travel Promotion Act in the “Mayors’ 10 Point Action Plan” outlining its priorities for the next Presidential Administration, and Conference leaders provided the House with letters of support for the measure.

“We will continue to push the next presidential administration to elevate travel and tourism as one of their priorities. This action by the House is a step in the right direction in reinvigorating the federal government’s role in promoting travel to our cities,” stated Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran, who is also a board member of the Travel Business Roundtable that is composed of CEOs and senior executives from travel-related industries and organizations.

Two million fewer overseas travelers visited the United States in 2007 than in 2000. The decline in overseas travel since 9/11 has cost America 46 million visitors, $140 billion in lost visitor spending and $23 billion in lost tax revenue.