Travel Promotion Act Lauded by Planners
by Dawn M. BarclayUp to now, there has been no one overarching initiative to attract visitors, including meeting attendees and incentive travel programs, to the United States. That will change now that the Travel Promotion Act, a piece of legislation that establishes a multi-million dollar, public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and better explain travel security policies and entry requirements to foreign travelers was signed on March 4, 2010 by President Obama.
Passed by the Senate in late February by a strong bipartisan vote of 78 to 18, following its passage by the House of Representatives back in November, it was expected to be signed by President Obama, since he co-sponsored the bill when still in the Senate. According to independent analysis by Oxford Economics, the program could attract 1.6 million additional visitors from other countries and create more than $4 billion in consumer spending annually.
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“This is a historic victory for the U.S. economy and the one in eight American workers whose jobs depend on travel,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “The United States Congress has sent a clear message that travel is a high priority to our nation and that tangible steps must be taken to increase travel to and within the United States.”
The Travel Promotion Act creates the Corporation for Travel Promotion, modeled after successful programs in U.S. states and other developed nations, with the mission of attracting more visitors to the United States. The initiative is funded through a matching program featuring up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on foreign travelers who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States. No money is provided by U.S. taxpayers.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, research shows that international travel to the United States, especially from overseas origins, has suffered due to negative perceptions about travel processes following increased security reforms post 9/11. While international travel has boomed over the past decade, with 46 million more international travelers taking long-haul trips in 2009 than in 2000, the United States actually lost visitors, welcoming 2.4 million fewer overseas travelers than in 2000. The failure of the United States to simply keep pace with the growth in international long-haul travel has cost a combined 68 million visitors to the U.S. and more than $500 billion in total spending over the last decade.
Reaction among the meeting and incentive community was overwhelmingly positive.
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The Travel Promotion Act is an important act for the United States, considering we are one of the only countries (if not only) country in the free world that lacks a Cabinet level office representing tourism, said Anne Marie Moebes, executive vice president of Acclaim Meetings, noting that “The rest of the world has always understood the economic benefit that results from inbound tourism and has made it a high priority.
“This Act will help the entire travel industry, including the meetings business, and in particular small businesses which rely heavily on inbound tourism such as receptive travel sellers, meeting planners and DMC’s. It is essential that this funding continue in good times as well as bad and that small businesses be represented on any type of advisory board,” Moebes said.
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The Travel Promotions Act will have significant impact on the U.S. travel and meetings industry, agreed Deborah Sexton, president and CEO of PCMA, the Professional Convention Management Association. “The passage of this bill will result in the creation of thousands of U.S. jobs to manage the projected millions of new visitors and meeting delegates who are anticipated as a result of the promotional program the new Act will create, allowing the U.S. to compete on a level playing field in the global arena. We look forward to the President signing this bill that will provide serious economic stimulus to the country and long-term benefit to our industry.”
“SITE fully endorses the Travel Promotions Act,” affirmed Sean J. Mahoney, president of the global board of directors for the Society of Incentive Travel Executives, noting that it will benefit SITE’s global community of professionals who buy, supply and support motivational events to drive business results. “U.S. professionals will attract foreign business through a federally sponsored marketing initiative. Professionals in other countries will benefit from clearer communication and a centralized source for U.S. travel information.”
“We’re thrilled obviously,” said Carling Dinkler, president of Custom Conventions of New Orleans and Las Vegas. “Anything that makes it easier for people to come to our country from overseas is welcome news for our industry,” he said, referring to the aspects of the Act that will make entry requirements easier to understand.
“A few years back we had a large group of Ford Motors dealers coming to Las Vegas out of Mexico. Some couldn’t get visas and they ended up scrubbing the trip and going to Vancouver instead,” he said.
Dinkler, who has spent the last thirty years working in the inbound meetings market and works with a large number of medical groups, said he thought that the FIT market would be the most helped by the Travel Promotion Act and that in regard to meetings, while business never came to a standstill, Las Vegas would benefit strongly, since international travel wouldn’t be stymied by the “AIG affect” that has stigmatized the city as the recipient of recent meeting and incentive business.
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Roger Rickard, Chief Business Solicitor at REvent LLC, a think tank and educational resource for the business travel industry through meetings, incentive and events said, “The ‘OPEN’ sign is now hanging in America’s front window as a travel destination. This is a winning proposition for U.S. planners in an industry that has seen its struggles recently.”
