October 8, 2009
U.S. House of Representatives Passes Travel Promotion Act
The U.S. House has passed a bill that establishes a public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier international travel destination and communicate U.S. security and entry policies. H.R. 2935, identical to S. 1023, calls for an overseas travel promotion program that is projected to yield millions of new visitors, $4 billion in new economic stimulus and $320 million in new federal tax revenue. The U.S. Senate passed its version Sept. 9.
The bill is funded-at no cost to American taxpayers-by private sector contributions and a $10 fee paid by foreign travelers from countries that do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States. Nearly every developed nation charges entry and exit fees and spends millions of dollars to attract visitors.
At a time of historic growth in world travel, fewer overseas travelers are coming to the United States. The U.S. Travel Association reports 48 million more global overseas travelers in 2008 than 2000, yet 633,000 fewer visited the United States.
"A Blueprint to Discover America," prepared by Discover America Partnership, indicates international travelers believe the United States to have the "world's worse" entry process, with profound consequences. Overseas travel to the United States has fallen 17 percent since 2001, at a cost of $94 billion in visitor spending, $16 billion in tax receipts and nearly 200,000 American jobs.
"Through this important piece of legislation, our nation will be better promoted internationally," said Brad Dean, Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. "It will open the door for destinations like Myrtle Beach to actively promote themselves as part of that overall message. Myrtle Beach could piggyback its own international marketing campaign off the national campaign. The appeal of international visitors, particularly Europeans, is that they travel more often, stay longer, and spend more than the average American traveler."
The MBACC's 19th edition Statistical Abstract reports that two of South Carolina's largest visitor countries of origin are Germany and the United Kingdom, with 16,476 German residents and 18,780 U.K. residents visiting the state in 2007. Also that year, 852,400 Canadians visited.
For more information, log on to the U.S. Travel Association's Web site, USTravel.org.
For legislative tracking on specific bills, visit the chamber's Government Relations page.
On the Net
MyrtleBeachAreaChamber.com
SCStateHouse.net
House.gov
Senate.gov
USA.gov
SCChamber.net
USChamber.com
I-73.com
