[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7820 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7820

    To require the Secretary of Commerce to identify the resources, 
  regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve 
    annual travel and tourism goals, including a travel and tourism 
 recovery strategy from COVID-19, and to prepare a strategy to address 
          potential future pandemics, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2022

   Mr. Dunn (for himself, Mr. Soto, and Ms. Salazar) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Secretary of Commerce to identify the resources, 
  regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve 
    annual travel and tourism goals, including a travel and tourism 
 recovery strategy from COVID-19, and to prepare a strategy to address 
          potential future pandemics, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Travel and Tourism 
Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce.
Sec. 3. Travel and tourism strategy.
Sec. 4. United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Sec. 5. Data on domestic travel and tourism.
Sec. 6. Defined term.

SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.

    (a) Visitation Goals.--The Secretary of Commerce shall--
            (1) establish an annual goal, consistent with the goals of 
        the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 
        3(1), for--
                    (A) the number of international visitors to the 
                United States; and
                    (B) the value of travel and tourism commerce;
            (2) develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals 
        established pursuant to paragraph (1);
            (3) ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in 
        consultation with--
                    (A) the Tourism Policy Council;
                    (C) the National Travel and Tourism Office;
                    (D) Brand USA;
                    (E) the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory 
                Board; and
                    (F) travel industry partners, including public and 
                private destination marketing organizations, travel and 
                tourism suppliers, and gig economy representatives from 
                these industries;
            (4) establish short, medium, and long-term timelines for 
        implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to 
        paragraph (2);
            (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in 
        consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to 
        identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and 
        private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual commerce 
        goals; and
            (6) provide assessments and recommendations to--
                    (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                    (C) the public through a publicly accessible 
                website.
    (b) Domestic Travel and Tourism.--The Secretary, to the extent 
feasible, shall--
            (1) develop recommendations and goals to support and 
        enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure; 
        and
            (2) engage public and private stakeholders to support 
        domestic tourism.
    (c) Workforce.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop 
        strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and 
        reliability of travel and tourism workforce data;
            (2) consult with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of 
        Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data;
            (3) provide recommendations for policy enhancements and 
        efficiencies; and
            (4) provide recommendations for policy to support and grow 
        the gig economy as it relates to travel and tourism.
    (d) Recovery Strategy.--
            (1) Initial recovery strategy.--Not later than 1 year after 
        amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this 
        section, the Secretary, in consultation with public and private 
        stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health 
        officials, shall develop and implement a COVID-19 public health 
        emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel 
        and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic.
            (2) Future recovery strategies.--After assisting in the 
        implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph 
        (1), the Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and 
        private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery 
        strategies, including but not limited to a public-private 
        partnership, for the travel and tourism industry in 
        anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would 
        significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as 
        hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, and 
        pandemics.
            (3) Cost-benefit analysis.--In developing the COVID-19 
        public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph (1) 
        and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism 
        industry under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct cost-
        benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic 
        effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and 
        tourism industry.
    (e) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Forecasting report.--The Secretary shall produce an 
        annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, 
        to the extent feasible, which shall include current and 
        anticipated international inbound volume and spending, taking 
        into account the lasting effects of the COVID-19 public health 
        emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented 
        pursuant to subsection (d)(1).
            (2) Bureau of economic analysis.--The Director of the 
        Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the 
        extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts, 
        including State level travel and tourism spending data.
            (3) National travel and tourism office.--The Director of 
        the National Travel and Tourism Office--
                    (A) in partnership with the Bureau of Economic 
                Analysis, shall report international arrival and 
                spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which 
                shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism 
                Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly 
                available website; and
                    (B) shall include questions in the Survey of 
                International Air Travelers regarding wait-times, 
                visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent 
                applicable.

SEC. 3. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY.

    Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of 
Commerce, in consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism 
Advisory Board, and the Tourism Policy Council, shall develop and 
submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall 
include--
            (1) the establishment of goals with respect to the number 
        of annual international visitors to the United States and the 
        annual value of travel and tourism commerce during such 10-year 
        period;
            (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals established 
        pursuant to paragraph (1); and
            (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes 
        that would be necessary to achieve such goals.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD.

    Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to encourage travel in the 
United States, and for other purposes'' (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended--
            (1) by amending the section heading to read as follows: 
        ``united states travel and tourism advisory board; advisory 
        committee''; and
            (2) by striking ``The Secretary of Commerce is authorized'' 
        and inserting the following:
    ``(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is established the United States 
        Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this 
        subsection as the `Board'), the members of which shall be 
        appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for 2-year terms from 
        among companies and organizations in the travel and tourism 
        industry.
            ``(2) Executive director.--The Assistant Secretary for 
        Commerce and Economic Development shall serve as the Executive 
        Director of the Board.
            ``(3) Executive secretariat.--The Director of the National 
        Travel and Tourism Office of the International Trade 
        Administration shall serve as the Executive Secretariat for the 
        Board.
            ``(4) Functions.--The Board's Charter shall specify that 
        the Board will--
                    ``(A) serve as the advisory body to the Secretary 
                of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and 
                tourism industry in the United States;
                    ``(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on 
                government policies and programs that affect the United 
                States travel and tourism industry;
                    ``(C) offer counsel on current and emerging issues;
                    ``(D) provide a forum for discussing and proposing 
                solutions to problems related to the travel and tourism 
                industry; and
                    ``(E) provide advice regarding the domestic travel 
                and tourism industry as an economic engine.
    ``(b) Advisory Committee for Promotion of Tourist Travel.--The 
Secretary of Commerce is authorized''.

SEC. 5. DATA ON DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM.

    The Secretary of Commerce, subject to the availability of 
appropriations, shall collect and make public aggregate data on 
domestic travel and tourism trends by individuals traveling between 
points within the United States.

SEC. 6. DEFINED TERM.

    In this Act, the term ``COVID-19 public health emergency''--
            (1) means the public health emergency first declared on 
        January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
        247d) with respect to COVID-19; and
            (2) includes any renewal of such declaration pursuant to 
        such section 319.
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