[Senate Hearing 117-852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-852

                  EXAMINING THE 2022 NATIONAL TRAVEL 
                          AND TOURISM STRATEGY

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON TOURISM, TRADE,
                          AND EXPORT PROMOTION

                                 OF THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                             JULY 12, 2022
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             
                             
                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                             


                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
54-988 PDF                WASHINGTON : 2024                   
                
                
                
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION


                   MARIA CANTWELL, Washington, Chair
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Ranking
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 ROY BLUNT, Missouri
EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts         TED CRUZ, Texas
GARY PETERS, Michigan                DEB FISCHER, Nebraska
TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             JERRY MORAN, Kansas
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
JON TESTER, Montana                  MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              TODD YOUNG, Indiana
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MIKE LEE, Utah
BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico            RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado          SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia                 Virginia
                                     RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
                       Lila Helms, Staff Director
                 Melissa Porter, Deputy Staff Director
       George Greenwell, Policy Coordinator and Security Manager
                 John Keast, Republican Staff Director
            Crystal Tully, Republican Deputy Staff Director
                      Steven Wall, General Counsel
                                 ------                                

          SUBCOMMITTEE ON TOURISM, TRADE, AND EXPORT PROMOTION

JACKY ROSEN, Nevada, Chair           RICK SCOTT, Florida, Ranking
AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois            MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee
JON TESTER, Montana                  RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West 
JOHN HICKENLOOPER, Colorado              Virginia
                                     CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on July 12, 2022....................................     1
Statement of Senator Rosen.......................................     1
Statement of Senator Scott.......................................     3
Statement of Senator Hickenlooper................................    13
Statement of Senator Sullivan....................................    33
Statement of Senator Klobuchar...................................    35

                               Witnesses

Hon. Grant T. Harris, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
  Industry and Analysis, International Trade Administration, U.S. 
  Department of Commerce.........................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................     6
William ``Bill'' Hornbuckle, President and Chief Executive 
  Officer, MGM Resorts International; Chair, U.S. Travel and 
  Tourism Advisory Board.........................................    20
    Prepared statement...........................................    21
Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico and Vice Chair, Travel and 
  Tourism Advisory Board.........................................    23
    Prepared statement...........................................    25

                                Appendix

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema 
  to:
    Hon. Grant T. Harris.........................................    45
    William ``Bill'' Hornbuckle..................................    46

 
                  EXAMINING THE 2022 NATIONAL TRAVEL 
                          AND TOURISM STRATEGY

                              ----------                              


                         TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022

                               U.S. Senate,
        Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export 
                                         Promotion,
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in 
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jacky Rosen, 
Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Rosen [presiding], Klobuchar, Tester, 
Sinema, Hickenlooper, Scott, and Sullivan.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JACKY ROSEN, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

    Senator Rosen. Good morning. And welcome to the seventh 
hearing of the Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export 
Promotion. Today's hearing, ``Examining the 2022 National 
Travel and Tourism Strategy,'' will analyze the Department of 
Commerce's recently published strategy to strengthen the global 
competitiveness of our Nation's travel and tourism industry, 
and to make it more sustainable and resilient.
    The Department developed the first National Travel and 
Tourism Strategy in 2012 and updated it in 2019, before travel, 
tourism, and hospitality businesses and workers were just 
devastated by the impacts of the pandemic.
    As the pandemic worsened, I joined the Chair and Ranking 
Member of the full Commerce Committee, as well as Ranking 
Member Scott, in asking Secretary Raimondo to update the 
national strategy to address the impacts of the pandemic and 
help the travel and tourism industry flourish once again.
    I continued to push for a new national strategy when 
Ranking Member Wicker and I, joined again by Ranking Member 
Scott and several other members of this subcommittee, 
introducing the Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act, which passed 
the full committee in December.
    Our Tour Bus, as we like to call it, would, among many 
other things, require the Department of Commerce to regularly 
update its travel and tourism strategy and present it to 
Congress. So I thank Secretary Raimondo and the Tourism Policy 
Council for heeding our call and for developing an ambitious 
strategy to enhance travel and tourism in the United States.
    This new strategy specifically aims to, one, promote the 
United States as a premier travel destination, including 
broadening marketing efforts to encourage visitation to 
underserved and underrepresented communities.
    Number two, to facilitate and--safe and efficient travel to 
and within the United States and its territories. Three, to 
ensure diverse and accessible tourism experiences with a focus 
on showcasing the Nation's Federal lands and national parks and 
protecting them for future generations. And number four, foster 
resilient and sustainable travel and tourism.
    Additionally, the strategy establishes an overarching goal 
by 2027 of increasing American jobs by attracting 90 million 
international visitors every year who are estimated to spend 
about $279 billion annually. Tourism and international travel, 
while they grow our country's national output of services, they 
increase our foreign currency earning, so they are a service 
export.
    This new strategy recognizes international travel as a top 
U.S. service export. When travelers from global markets visit 
U.S. destinations, they buy our goods and services, from 
staying in fabulous hotels on the Las Vegas strip, eating in 
our amazing restaurants, attending conventions and trade shows 
like CES, they pay for tickets to see live entertainment. They 
rent cars. They ride tour busses. They spend time in cities and 
towns near our fantastic outdoor recreation spots, from Lake 
Tahoe to Great Basin National Park to Red Rock Canyon.
    This foreign demand means export income for the U.S. 
economy. By spending their money in America, international 
travelers improve the U.S. trade balance. Just like overseas 
buyers of products shipped from a U.S. manufacturer.
    In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 80 million 
international visitors came to the U.S. each year and 
contributed about $239 billion to the U.S. economy, making the 
U.S. the global leader in revenue from international travel and 
tourism. But of course, the travel and tourism industry was one 
of the hardest hit sectors impacted by the pandemic.
    From 2019 to 2020, travel exports decreased nearly 65 
percent, and the decline in travel and tourism contributed 
heavily to unemployment, with leisure and hospitality jobs 
losing just over 8 million jobs between February and April 
2020.
    In fact, according to the Department of Commerce's National 
Travel and Tourism Office, the decline in travel and tourism to 
and within the United States accounted for 56 percent of the 
decline in U.S. gross domestic product. Thankfully, travel and 
tourism, well it is beginning to recover.
    I am happy to report that Harry Reid International Airport 
in Las Vegas has had the best capacity recovery from the 
pandemic from any airport worldwide, and seat capacity last 
month, up 7 percent from 2019, which has been its best record. 
By following the national tourism and--excuse me, by following 
the new National Travel and Tourism Strategy, the Federal 
Government can continue to support this growth and help travel 
and tourism businesses in Nevada and the Nation fully recover.
    Today, we will have two witness panels to review and assess 
the recently released strategy. Testifying on our first panel 
is Grant Harris, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry 
and Analysis. In this role, Mr. Harris and his team help define 
the future of international trade, investment, and export 
promotion, including tourism promotion through the National 
Travel and Tourism Office.
    Sitting for the second witness panel, we have the Chair and 
Vice Chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which 
serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on 
matters relating to travel and tourism industry right here in 
the United States.
    The Board advises the Secretary on Government policies and 
programs that affect U.S. travel and tourism, offers counsel on 
current and emerging issues, and provides a forum for 
discussing and proposing solutions to industry related 
problems.
    We are privileged to have testifying before us Board Chair, 
Bill Hornbuckle and Vice Chair, Brad Dean. Mr. Hornbuckle is 
Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, and Mr. Dean is 
CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. I will introduce them both to the 
Subcommittee when we begin panel two.
    Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. I 
look forward to hearing each of you share your experiences and 
expertise with us, as well as reviewing the new national 
strategy. I will now turn it over to Ranking Member Scott for 
his opening statement, and then introduce our first witness 
panel. Senator Scott.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. RICK SCOTT, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA

    Senator Scott. I want to first thank Chair Rosen for 
hosting this hearing today. And I also want to thank Chair 
Rosen for her focus on making sure we grow our national and 
international travel. Both of our states are our tourism 
states, and I know Chair Rosen cares, like I do, that we get 
our travel industry back to even better than what was before 
the pandemic.
    I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. 
I look forward from hearing from each of you--your testimony. 
The travel and tourism industry has a significant impact on the 
American economy, and businesses small and large are working 
tirelessly to recover from COVID-19. In the great state of 
Florida, tourism is the largest driver of economic growth in 
the state's economy.
    My state is proud to be home to some of the best travel 
destinations in the world. I know Chair Rosen would like to 
brag a lot about Nevada. We have got some of the best travel 
destinations in the world which attracts travelers to come to 
Florida to explore all that we have to offer. Tourism is 
essential to supporting local businesses, creating jobs, and 
increasing the ability for states to invest into critical 
environmental projects, transportation, public safety, and 
education.
    With recent lifting of COVID testing requirements for 
vaccinated international travelers, we will see soon--we hope 
we will see soon a large increase in international travelers 
who want to come to United States during the summer months. 
These next few months will be vitally important in COVID 
recovery for businesses small and large who rely on strong 
tourism industry.
    People all over the world desperately want to travel. After 
2 years of restrictions and Congress needs to do everything we 
can to facilitate their travel to the United States. This 2022 
National Travel and Tourism Strategy we will be discussing 
today is aimed to do just that. It seeks to promote the United 
States as a premier travel destination, facilitate travel 
experiences that are available for all, ensure our destinations 
and experiences can be employed for many years to come.
    However, there are still some challenges holding back the 
full return of the United States tourism industry. We are 
witnessing large labor shortages across all industries, making 
it difficult for businesses to staff their operations. During--
due to massive staff shortages in the airline industry, many 
travelers are experiencing unacceptable flight delays and 
cancellations, which deters people from traveling.
    We are also seeing record prices at the gas pump, making 
summer road trips unaffordable for many families. This 
committee has been instrumental in championing effective policy 
to help the tourism industry recover from the impact of COVID-
19.
    Tourism, we talked about the Ominous Travel Tourism Act, 
which was dubbed the Tour Bus, which will study the impacts of 
COVID on the travel and tourism industry and implement 
strategies to promote travel to the United States.
    And just days after our last subcommittee meeting, the 
Biden Administration finally lifted the testing mandates for 
additional travelers who are fully vaccinated. I and many 
others have been urging the Administration to take this step 
for months, and I am glad we have finally taken this big step 
that will help to restore the tourism industry to pre-pandemic 
levels and better and promote international travel to the 
United States.
    Domestic and international travel is slowly but surely 
returning to normal. We will do everything we can to protect 
small businesses and American jobs. We must continue to work on 
the challenges facing the travel and tourism industry.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on how 
Congress can best serve the tourism industry, meet the goals 
laid out in the 2022 travel and tourism strategy. I want to 
thank each of you for being here today. Thank you, Chair Rosen.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Senator Scott. We would like to 
begin now with panel one. And it is my pleasure to introduce 
Grant Harris. He is Assistant Secretary for Commerce for 
Industry and Analysis. He is here today to discuss the 
Department of Commerce's recently released National Travel and 
Tourism Strategy.
    Mr. Harris was sworn into his position on April 19, 2022, 
after advancing through the full Commerce Committee and being 
confirmed on the Senate floor. In his new role, he leads a 
staff of more than 225 trade and industry experts that produce 
innovative and in-depth analysis and develop strategies to 
maintain the leading competitive edge of American industry 
throughout the world.
    Mr. Harris also oversees the National Travel and Tourism 
Office, which is housed within the Department of Commerce's 
International Trade Administration and is the Federal 
Government's official source for U.S. travel and tourism 
statistics, and the central hub for Federal travel and tourism 
efforts.
    Mr. Harris, thank you for being here today. And I want to 
thank Secretary Raimondo and the Tourism Policy Council for 
developing the new national travel strategy. And I recognize 
you now for your opening statement.

               STATEMENT OF HON. GRANT T. HARRIS,

          ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR INDUSTRY

       AND ANALYSIS, INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION,

                  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

    Mr. Harris. Chair Rosen, Ranking Member Scott, and members 
of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to talk about 
the National Travel and Tourism Strategy and the state of the 
U.S. travel and tourism industry. Thank you also for your 
leadership on travel and tourism. Developed through the Tourism 
Policy Council, chaired by Secretary Gina Raimondo, the 
strategy brings a whole of Government focus to increasing 
American jobs and growing the economy through travel, tourism, 
and outdoor recreation.
    The strategy will support a more robust and sustainable 
industry moving forward, something that I know is a priority 
for you and members of the Committee and which I share. I also 
want to thank my partners across Departments and agencies 
throughout the Administration, as well as the Travel and 
Tourism Advisory Board and the many stakeholders who provided 
valuable recommendations and input that informed this strategy. 
It has truly been a whole of Government effort.
    More than two years ago, COVID-19 forced an economic 
shutdown across the Nation and the world that the travel and 
tourism industry was hit particularly hard by. The industry is 
still working to recover. In 2019, 79.4 million visitors came 
to the United States. In 2020, that number fell all the way to 
19.2 million.
    The Administration's robust vaccine rollout and effective 
travel policies, including the recent decision to drop pre-
departure testing, have helped U.S. tourism start to rebound, 
but we have a lot of work to do to return all segments of 
tourism in the United States to pre-pandemic levels.
    Announced by Secretary Raimondo last month, the strategy 
sets an ambitious goal of increasing American jobs by 
attracting and welcoming 90 million visitors by 2027, who we 
estimate will spend $279 billion annually. This goal matches 
recommendations from our Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
    The strategy is centered around four pillars. First, 
promote the United States as a travel destination. Second, 
facilitate travel to and within the United States. Third, 
ensure diverse, inclusive, and accessible travel experiences. 
Fourth, foster resilient and sustainable travel and tourism.
    The strategy recognizes that the recovery in the travel and 
tourism industry has been uneven. Some regions and market 
segments, such as business travel, will need more help to 
bounce back. Some of the Federal implementation objectives of 
the strategy to grow and improve travel, tourism, and outdoor 
recreation, include the following: Showcasing tourism offerings 
across the United States.
    Helping State, local, and tribal Governments identify 
opportunities to access funding and technical assistance to 
plan, build market, and manage sustainable tourism economies. 
Streamlining the entry process as managed by the Departments of 
State and Homeland Security.
    Supporting travel and tourism workers' access to childcare, 
reliable transportation, and career pathways, especially for 
people of color and women. And working to build a resilient 
travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sector and reduce its 
contributions to the climate crisis. And as we have heard from 
many companies in the industry, adopting these mitigation 
measures is also good for their bottom lines.
    In advancing these goals, the Administration will work in 
close partnership with industry, labor organizations, State, 
local, and tribal Governments, and, of course, Congress. In 
that regard, I want to emphasize our appreciation for the $250 
million in emergency funding that Congress made available to 
Brand USA.
    This will be a significant help as the travel and tourism 
industry works to recover. This new strategy is also the only--
only the latest step in the Biden-Harris Administration's work 
to revitalize travel, tourism, and the outdoor recreation 
industry.
    The Commerce Department's Economic Development 
Administration has already distributed $510 million in formula 
funding to states, territories, and the District of Columbia to 
support travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation as part of the 
American Rescue Plan of 2021.
    It is now working to issue $240 million in competitive 
grants. As of June 30, EDA has announced $90.7 million of the 
competitive funding. The Administration appreciates this direct 
Congressional support for the industry when it was most needed.
    In Nevada, the Nevada Commission on Tourism is using this 
funding to provide marketing grants across dozens of 
organizations to boost tourism to rural communities. In 
Florida, funds are being used to conduct marketing campaigns, 
which include international digital marketing to promote online 
content in foreign countries.
    In addition, the International Trade Administration's 
National Travel and Tourism Office continues to provide vital 
statistics and data to the industry and inform private sector 
decisionmaking, while working to enhance the international 
competitiveness of the U.S. travel and tourism industry.
    In conclusion, a sustained, widespread recovery in the 
travel and tourism industry depends in part on our close work 
across the Administration and with Congress to support job 
creation and foster sustainable growth in communities across 
the country for years to come. Thank you. I welcome your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Harris follows:]

Prepared Statement of Grant T. Harris, Assistant Secretary of Commerce 
    for Industry and Analysis, International Trade Administration, 
                      U.S. Department of Commerce
    Chair Rosen, Ranking Member Scott, and members of the Committee, 
thank you for the opportunity to speak about the National Travel and 
Tourism Strategy and the state of the U.S. travel and tourism industry. 
Thank you also for your leadership on travel and tourism.
    Developed through the Tourism Policy Council, chaired by Secretary 
Gina Raimondo, the Strategy brings a whole-of-government focus to 
increasing American jobs and growing the economy through travel, 
tourism, and outdoor recreation. The Strategy will support a more 
robust and sustainable industry moving forward--something that I know 
is a priority for you and members of this committee and that we share.
    I also want to thank my colleagues at the Departments of State, 
Homeland Security, Transportation, the Interior, Labor, and 
Agriculture, as well as the National Security Council, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Small Business Administration, and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, for their partnership and hard work in 
developing this Strategy. It is truly an Administration-wide effort. I 
also want to thank the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and the 
many stakeholders who provided valuable recommendations and input that 
informed this Strategy.
    More than two years ago, COVID-19 forced an economic shutdown 
across the Nation and the world that hit travel and tourism 
particularly hard. The industry is still working to recover.

   In 2019, 79.4 million visitors came to the United States.

   In 2020, that number fell all the way to 19.2 million.

    The Administration's robust vaccine rollout and effective travel 
policies, including the recent decision to drop pre-departure testing, 
have helped U.S. tourism start to rebound, but we have a lot of work to 
do to return all segments of tourism in the United States to pre-
pandemic levels.
    Announced by Secretary Raimondo last month, the Strategy sets an 
ambitious goal of increasing American jobs by attracting and welcoming 
90 million international visitors by 2027, who we estimate will spend 
$279 billion annually. This goal matches recommendations from our 
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
    The Strategy is centered around four pillars:

   First, promote the United States as a travel destination.

   Second, facilitate travel to and within the United States.

   Third, ensure diverse, inclusive, and accessible travel 
        experiences.

   Fourth, foster resilient and sustainable travel and tourism.

    The Strategy recognizes that the recovery in the travel and tourism 
industry has been uneven. Some regions and market segments, such as 
business travel, will need more help to bounce back.
    Some of the Federal implementation objectives of the Strategy to 
grow and improve travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation, include the 
following:

   Showcasing tourism offerings across the United States;

   Helping state, local, and tribal governments identify 
        opportunities to access funding and technical assistance to 
        plan, build, market, and manage sustainable tourism economies;

   Streamlining the entry process (as managed by the 
        Departments of State and Homeland Security);

   Supporting travel and tourism workers' access to child care, 
        reliable transportation, and career pathways, especially for 
        people of color and women;

   And working to build a resilient travel, tourism, and 
        outdoor recreation sector and reduce its contributions to the 
        climate crisis.

    As we've heard from many companies in the industry, adopting these 
mitigation measures is also good for their bottom lines.
    In advancing these goals, the Administration will work in close 
partnership with industry; labor organizations; state, local, and 
tribal governments; and Congress.
    In that regard, I want to emphasize our appreciation for the $250 
million emergency funding that Congress made available to Brand USA. 
This will be a significant help as the travel and tourism industry 
works to recover.
    This new Strategy is only the latest step in the Biden-Harris 
Administration's work to revitalize the travel, tourism, and outdoor 
recreation industry.
    The Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration has 
already distributed $510 million in formula funding to states, 
territories, and the District of Columbia to support travel, tourism, 
and outdoor recreation as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, 
and is working to issue $240 million in competitive grants. As of June 
30, EDA has announced $90.7 million of the competitive funding. The 
Administration appreciates this direct Congressional support of the 
industry when it was most needed.
    In Nevada, the Nevada Commission on Tourism is using this funding 
to provide marketing grants across dozens of organizations to boost 
tourism to rural communities.
    In Florida, funds are being used to conduct marketing campaigns, 
which include international digital marketing to promote online content 
in foreign countries.
    In addition, the International Trade Administration's National 
Travel and Tourism Office continued to provide vital data and 
statistics to the industry that inform private sector decision-making 
and works to enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. 
travel and tourism industry.
    A sustained, widespread recovery in the travel and tourism industry 
depends in part on our close work across the Administration and with 
Congress, to support job creation and foster sustainable growth in 
communities across the country for years to come.
    Thank you. I welcome your questions.

    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you, Mr. Harris. And again, 
thank you for being here today to address our questions about 
the National Travel and Tourism Strategy. So I am just going to 
jump right into my first question.
    So we want to talk about agency collaboration to promote 
tourism, because a key aspect of the new national strategy is 
that it lays the foundation for a whole of Government, excuse 
me, approach to increasing travel and tourism in the United 
States. So that makes inter-agency collaboration key to the 
strategy's success and to the future growth of travel to Las 
Vegas, to Reno, tourism destinations throughout Nevada that 
depend on international visitors. I am therefore glad to see 
the strategy recommends streamlining the communication of U.S. 
travel policy by developing coordinated plans at U.S. embassies 
and consulates that support increased travel and tourism from 
international markets.
    So, Mr. Harris, can you discuss your plan for Commerce's 
coordination with the State Department? Talk about how you will 
work together under this strategy to promote--excuse me. I need 
a drink of water. Thank you. And talk to me about how you work 
together under this strategy to promote international travel, 
including by working to reduce barriers to travel like visa 
processing delays?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. As you mentioned, this 
is going to require intensive coordination across the 
Government and with Congress, as well as with stakeholders, 
labor organizations, industry groups, State, local, and tribal 
Governments. It is going to need to be a massive effort to make 
sure that we reach this ambitious goal.
    You, Chair Rosen, and Ranking Member Scott both mentioned 
various issues in your opening remarks, too, about workforce 
shortages, visas and other issues that, as you rightly note, 
the Department of Commerce will need to work closely with the 
Departments of State and Homeland Security, the Department of 
Labor.
    We are committed to this effort. I would just mention that 
Secretary Raimondo chairs the Tourism Policy Council, which is 
charged with creating the strategy and now implementing it. So 
we are rolling up our sleeves now to do so.
    Senator Rosen. Excuse me, I have to turn my microphone on. 
The new strategy also talks about how the Small Business 
Administration has a State expansion program, we call it STEP. 
It has potential to help tourism related small businesses, 
design international travel marketing campaigns, and even 
attract international partnerships through the Department of 
Commerce's commercial service programs.
    So can you talk about how the Department of Commerce is 
going to use a travel and tourism strategy to collaborate with 
the SBA on STEP to help our tourism small businesses thrive?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. Absolutely. Small 
businesses comprise the majority of the industry. And with SBA 
and with other partners, we are committed to supporting them. 
The STEP program that you mentioned is an important example, 
and this provides funds and access that can help with export 
development and expanding into international markets.
    You also mentioned commercial service officers, which we 
have--the Department of Commerce has in over 100 sites across 
the United States, including in Nevada, of course. And these 
are also another important source to help small businesses 
think about marketing, promoting the diverse tourism products 
that they have on offer, and increasing international 
visitation.
    Senator Rosen. Well, we want to be sure that all of our 
small businesses know about these collaborations, because I can 
tell you in our state, 99 percent of business is small 
business. Much of that does rely on our travel and tourism 
industry. So it is important that you get the word out, that 
they know that support is there, collaboration is there, and to 
help us reach our goals.
    And of course, our communities begin to thrive and grow, 
and that is a good thing. But we are focusing a lot today on 
the international travel experience. And so to support 
inclusive and accessible tourism experiences, the new strategy, 
it advocates for additional resources for Federal agencies to 
translate and create public materials in multiple languages and 
in braille.
    So earlier this year, my bipartisan bill, the Translate 
Act, which Representative Titus led in the House, it passed out 
of this committee. This bill would simplify air travel for non-
English speakers, international travelers, and those with 
visual or hearing impairments by ensuring that TSA signage and 
materials at airports are available in more languages and in 
additional forms.
    This is going to support travel and tourism in and out of 
the United States. So how does this bill align with the goals 
of the Department's recommendation in its travel and tourism 
strategy?
    And what other steps do you think this committee can take 
to make international travel to the United States more 
accessible for non-English speakers around the world?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. This is another 
important issue that receives great focus in the strategy and 
is consistent with the themes that you are mentioning, where we 
would like to increase the number of languages and the use of 
braille to make sure that marketing efforts, signage, and our 
messaging across the Board is as accessible as possible.
    We also want to make sure that sites are accessible from a 
disability perspective, too. This is one of the key pillars of 
the strategy in promoting diverse, inclusive, and equitable 
experiences, and making sure that we are showcasing this 
broader way of tourism products. It is something that I want to 
continue to work with you and your staff on as well in this 
committee.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. We want to make it 
efficient and accessible as possible. And you really focused a 
lot on harnessing efficiencies, and so TSA checkpoints. We know 
that everybody has to go through them and so we have to harness 
efficiencies there. We have to discuss the one stop security 
pilot program that, wow, you have implemented.
    So currently international air passengers, when they arrive 
in the United States, who have subsequent transfer flights, 
they generally have to be screened again at an airport security 
checkpoint before boarding the transfer flight.
    My Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act, it includes a provision 
that would allow passengers and baggage arriving from certain 
foreign airports to bypass a second round of screening if the 
point of last departure airport has screening commensurate to 
us in the United States, and we know that those airports do 
exist.
    So how might the establishment of a one stop security pilot 
program, how does it directly support and help our inbound 
international traveler while maintaining safety?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen, for that question. I 
would defer to my colleagues at the Department of Homeland 
Security on what it will take to implement a one stop program. 
But what I can say is this, and the strategy mentions a pilot 
program.
    The strategy mentions looking at some of the operational 
and policy considerations and commits the Department of 
Homeland Security to continuing to do that. We, taking a step 
back, are very committed to facilitating travel to and within 
the United States.
    DHS and the State Department will be critical. They have 
made some important commitments, and we are going to now work 
with them to do all that we can to facilitate that travel and 
get that number up of visitors.
    Senator Rosen. Because collaboration--we are going to 
continue to talk about that over and over, collaboration with 
the SBA, collaboration with DHS, for TSA, all of those things 
are really part of the travel ecosystem. And so when we think 
about that, trying to be sure that everybody knows what is 
available and that we are all working toward the same goal 
becomes really important.
    And so Senator Scott is going to be back in a minute. But 
we both have fabulous states, and of course, all 50 States 
great and wonderful, and some place great to travel to and 
something wonderful to see, but our outdoor tourism, especially 
as we have seen in the pandemic, people have rediscovered the 
outdoors. They really wanted to get out and enjoy those spaces.
    And of course, in Nevada, we have got so much natural 
beauty. And so your strategy discovers--talks about sustainable 
outdoor tourism, collaborating with our outdoor recreation 
industry, leveraging that geo-tourism that supports tourism and 
sustainability. Outdoor tourism, like I said, a major part of 
Nevada's economy, particularly in our rural communities and in 
the Northern part of the state.
    We have tourism everywhere from Lake Tahoe all the way down 
to Lake Mead, our Great Basin National Park, some of the 
darkest skies in the United States, you can really see the 
stars. And so 15 million visitors annually visit Lake Tahoe, 
$5.1 billion in economy. And in recent years, we focused a lot 
on Lake Tahoe, has faced challenges of pollution, traffic, a 
shortage of affordable housing for the tourism workforce, which 
is something we have to think about as well.
    And the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is developing a plan 
to address these issues that will center local communities, 
equip our local agencies to be effective stewards of the land, 
and welcome the millions of visitors to all of our beauty, not 
just in our state and my state of Nevada, but across this 
Nation.
    So, how will the Department of Commerce work with 
communities through your new strategy to promote healthy and 
sustainable outdoor tourism that really invests in bringing up 
our local economies so that they can support the industry and 
remain good stewards of the environment?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. And I appreciate the 
reference to Lake Tahoe. My family has done its small part in 
contributing to those numbers and vacationing there as well.
    Senator Rosen. And we thank you for that.
    Mr. Harris. I think you have hit an important point on 
encouraging outdoor recreation, and this strategy is meant to 
put on offer, and to use in your terms, to make sure that 
everyone knows what is available at the many diverse offerings 
across the United States. We are very thankful to Congress for 
its support in the American Rescue Plan for these EDA grants, 
which I have been referencing.
    Those are supportive of outdoor recreation in particular, 
with some of the money that is being spent through those to 
states and territories and the District of Columbia. We have 
also been working in implementing the bipartisan infrastructure 
law, which is supporting both national parks, which is 
supporting trails, which is supporting other aspects of outdoor 
recreation.
    I would say in closing, one of the key components of this 
strategy is making clear that we need to work with communities 
and tourism economies to make this travel sustainable. In 
addition to marketing and putting on offer, we need to work 
with communities and community based management practices to 
ensure that we are ready for this influx of visitors.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. Communities large and small 
really need this help. I am going to turn now to Ranking Member 
Scott for his set of questions.
    Senator Scott. Thank you, Chair Rosen. Thanks for being 
here. So I think we all would agree that the best way to get 
things done is to have a plan, so thank you for doing this. How 
does the Department of Commerce plan on implementing the 
strategy so that the goals outlined in the plan are met, and 
how did you--who do you consult with to create the strategy?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. You are 
exactly right, we need a plan, and now we need to implement. In 
consulting on this strategy, first and foremost, we looked at 
the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which, as was referenced 
earlier, is a very important body in providing recommendations 
to Secretary Raimondo, including the target that was selected 
for trying to reach 90 million visitors.
    That was a recommendation from TTAB based on economic 
modeling that they had done. We also did extensive 
consultation, not just, of course, across Departments and 
agencies, but with external stakeholders.
    This included my recent travel to Florida to attend IPW, 
the industry's premiere event, where we had the strategy in 
hand, but we are still continuing the conversations, as we are 
now, about how do we make it work? How do we make sure that 
these commitments are seen and felt by communities across the 
country?
    Senator Scott. Thank you. As we know in Florida, tourism--
and I am sure the same thing is true for Nevada, tourism can be 
a huge revenue generator for the State. Does the Department of 
Commerce have an estimate on how much tax revenue will be 
generated by achieving the goals in this strategy?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. You are 
exactly right about it being a revenue generator. Of course, we 
are trying to reach the goal of getting to $279 billion in 
spend for this 90 million visitors.
    I don't have a number offhand on revenue beyond that but 
would be happy to take that back. We are exceedingly focused on 
the job creation aspect, and as the strategy notes, 1 in 20 
jobs are linked to travel and tourism, and we will be focused 
like a laser on getting these numbers up.
    Senator Scott. Great. There has been a series of holiday 
weekends this year that we have seen large numbers of delayed 
and canceled flights, disrupting people's travel which hampers 
tourism's full comeback. How has this been addressed in your 
strategy, and are you working with other Departments and 
stakeholders to mitigate these travel disruptions?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. You have 
touched on another important issue about the workforce, and 
this has come up repeatedly as well in making sure that a labor 
shortage is not a bottleneck to the travel and tourism 
industry's continued recovery.
    What we are doing with the Department of Labor and with 
others is trying to make sure that our programming and our 
outreach is working with industry to think about career 
pathways, to think about apprenticeship programs, to think 
about how funding and assistance can be geared toward solving 
this challenge.
    And to your previous point, Senator, about working with 
industry, I am hearing this a lot in my consultations about the 
need to solve an immediate short-term problem, but also the 
need to make these career pathways attractive on a going 
forward basis to make sure that the industry, not just right 
now, but in years to come, has the people that it needs to 
serve this influx of visitors that we are hoping for.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. The cruise industry is a vital 
part of Florida's tourism industry, as you know, as well as 
many other states represented here in this committee. How has 
the Department of Commerce worked with the CDC to safely ease 
COVID requirements for the cruise industry?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. This has been 
a close collaboration. It is indeed a very important industry. 
And I know how important it is to your state, and not to keep 
referencing my family, but we have cruised many times out of 
Florida as well.
    Secretary Raimondo has been focused, especially working 
with the White House, on making sure that there is a balanced 
perspective of thinking about economic security and jobs, as 
well as thinking about the advice of public health experts in 
making these decisions going forward.
    I would say when it comes to remaining COVID policies and 
what next steps would look like, that based on what we are 
seeing in data and on the COVID situation, there is an intent 
to transition to normal operations. I think there will be more 
coming in that space.
    And finally, I would note that the Cruise Lines 
International Association, from the numbers that I have seen 
from them, are hoping that nearly all of their memberships are 
back in the water and sailing by the end of this summer. So we 
will continue to keep supporting this progress.
    Senator Scott. So what do you think are the--what is going 
to be our limitations to fully recovering our tourism industry 
and getting all of our businesses reopened?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. That gives me 
a wide lane here to talk about some of the challenges that we 
know that we are going to confront. Collaboration will be key 
in working on visa wait times and getting those numbers down.
    That is a persistent issue, especially since the COVID-19 
pandemic caused the closure of so many embassies and 
consulates. And now, as the State Department is restaffing 
those, they are hopeful that the backlog will decrease. The 
workforce development issues are key, as I have talked about, 
both the immediate problem and on a going forward basis, making 
sure that we have the right people ready to go.
    As part of that, we want to make sure that equity and 
diversity and inclusion are key themes to broaden the inclusion 
both for attracting personnel, but also the communities that 
are affected by this.
    We are also going to have to be very mindful that there may 
be future public health crises, there may be other issues that 
surprise us. We set an ambitious number to try to reach, and we 
are going to keep working with stakeholders to try to reach 
that based on what we know now.
    Senator Scott. Can I ask one more question? Oh--sure.
    Senator Rosen. Senator, then I will come right back to you. 
Senator Hickenlooper, you are recognized for your round of 
questions.

             STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HICKENLOOPER, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO

    Senator Hickenlooper. Thank you, Chair Rosen, and thank 
you, Mr. Harris, for your service and for being here today. And 
I have had several discussions over the past year or two with 
Secretary Raimondo, and I know that you are all working hard on 
the issues around climate rescue and making sure that we have 
resilience.
    The strategy that you guys, that you are discussing today, 
this is a goal to build a travel and tourism sector that is 
resilient to the impacts of climate change. Obviously, in 
Colorado, we have got a big ski industry.
    Average temperatures in the last 40 years have risen about 
three degrees, which is just a remarkable number in such a 
short period of time. Our spring snowmelt now comes somewhere 2 
to 4 weeks earlier than it did several decades ago.
    Many of the ski resorts are taking aggressive actions to 
address the issues of resilience and sustainability to make 
sure that they are more efficient in their use of water and the 
equipment for snowmaking. Basically they are trying to offset a 
lack of natural snow.
    Can you discuss some of the, what you all perceive as the 
importance of decarbonization and resilience planning in terms 
of the health of our national tourist agency or tourist 
industry, not just in Colorado?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Senator, for that question. You are 
right to note the climate factors vary heavily into the 
strategy. It even includes mention about seasonality and 
changing temperature, affecting ski locales and others that 
where this will need to be factored in and how they welcome and 
what they do with respect to recovering from the pandemic.
    I would say, Senator, more concretely, this strategy is 
committed to decarbonization as it is a primary goal of the 
Administration, which means investing in things like electric 
vehicles, charging stations, thinking about working with 
industry on sustainable fuel sources as well.
    It is also focused on working with local communities to 
make sure that the planning is in place to have sustainable 
tourism ecosystems. That is the planning and management with a 
sustainability focus so that these resources and these amazing 
destinations will be here for decades and decades to come.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Yes, and I think that is a--again, we 
think of the natural wonders as such a resource that 
contributes so significantly to our economy but is something 
that depends on longevity and basically hopefully eternity. Let 
me switch to the different aspect of the ski resorts.
    Most of our ski resorts pay fees to the National Forest 
Service and on Forest Service land. To a large extent, fees 
that nationwide are almost $40 million a year now. To offset 
the cost of increased recreational use by ski resorts, 
Colorado's national forest need more financial resources to 
reinvest in the long-term maintenance needs of the national 
forests in Colorado and in the Nation, and to address 
sustainability needs as we see them in the condition of our 
forest and our--in our recreational facilities.
    We cosponsored, I was one of the co-sponsors on the Ski 
Hill Resources for Economic Development. That sounds unusual 
name of it, so that we could get to the acronym SHRED, but the 
SHRED Act to support our outdoor recreation communities. And I 
want to ask you to discuss the Department's 2022 National 
Travel and Tourism Strategy. How does it support the needs of 
the outdoor recreation community?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Senator. Supporting the needs of the 
outdoor recreation community is a priority of this strategy. It 
is both in terms of the commitments that we are making, that we 
want to showcase our offerings and we want to make sure that 
all communities benefit, whether it is urban and rural, whether 
it is outdoor recreation, particularly in underserved 
communities.
    It also is a factor in the EDA grants in supporting the 
ecosystems to welcome and make sure that these outdoor 
recreation sites aren't over utilized or are unable to cope, 
particularly in gateway communities.
    And it is a point too in implementing and carrying forward 
with the bipartisan infrastructure law as infrastructure 
related to national parks, trails, and others are ready to go. 
We are really ambitious in setting this number for increased 
visitation, but it will be crucial that we work with 
communities to be ready to receive visitors and increase 
numbers in a sustainable way.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Just perfect. Then, just about 
out of time so I will yield back to Chair Rosen, but just point 
out that the skiing in Colorado still is slightly better than 
the skiing in Tahoe. All right, well, I will throw out the last 
question, then.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Hickenlooper. She just tried to cut me off.
    Senator Rosen. We have some great skiing in Nevada. Is 
there skiing in Florida, Senator Scott?
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Hickenlooper. Let me ask one quick last question. 
Many hardworking tourism employees provide the services, create 
the enjoyable experiences that drive this tourism economy. And 
we need to provide housing and transportation options, options 
because the communities and where these resorts are have priced 
themselves out of such transportation and housing choices.
    Colorado cities and towns in Colorado, or Colorado cities 
and towns are benefiting from grant programs in the bipartisan 
infrastructure law, the infrastructure bill, to help build 
public transit that connects livable areas with popular 
mountain destinations. How does the 2022 National Travel and 
Tourism Strategy support the needs of the tourism workforce?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you for that question, Senator. 
Supporting the needs of the workforce is a priority. It is 
going to be crucial to implement this strategy. One thing that 
this strategy really builds on is the ongoing work of the 
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which sent a letter to 
Secretary Raimondo in December of last year outlining a lot of 
key recommendations related to the workforce.
    And we have included many of those recommendations and are 
looking to Departments and agencies to think through 
implementation of how we can be doing more. It lists some of 
the examples that you mentioned, like housing. It also includes 
things like career pathway programs, reliable worker 
transportation, and supporting family care access.
    We need to look holistically at supporting workers and 
their families so that they can partake in this industry and 
find the career pathways that will serve them, including and 
particularly related to people of color and women.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Great. Thank you, Mr. Harris. I 
appreciate it.
    Mr. Harris. Thank you.
    Senator Hickenlooper. Yield back. I thank the Chair.
    Senator Rosen. Senator Scott.
    Senator Scott. Mr. Harris, thanks again for being here. Can 
you talk about the issue that I think we are hearing all over 
the country, I hear it in Florida, with work visas and how 
difficult it has been to get work visas? And do you think the 
rules are right around work visas? Because it really impacts us 
and our seasonal workers for tourism.
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. The visa issue 
is one where we need to be making a lot of progress across the 
Board and the Department of State is seized with this. I 
referenced earlier coming back from the pandemic and thinking 
about processing times.
    When it comes to processing visas for workers in 
particular, this is another issue where we are collaborating 
with the State Department. I defer to them on how quickly they 
think they can get these numbers down, but it is an ongoing 
conversation with them.
    We are very aware that we need to be collaborative across 
the Government, but especially with the State Department, to 
think about bringing in the people that are needed. And I am 
also very aware that many businesses rely on these workers, 
particularly for seasonal, summer work.
    Senator Scott. Thank you.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I would like to build a little 
bit on what Senator Hickenlooper was talking about to build our 
tourism workforce, because last year, the Tourism Travel 
Advisory Board, we are just going to call it TTAB for short, 
did advise the Secretary of Commerce that the pandemic had 
worsened.
    Mike, you have spoken to already longstanding barriers to 
workforce participation in the travel and tourism industry, and 
it has just created new hurdles to workplace satisfaction. So 
TTAB recommended that Federal agencies take these steps to 
support travel and tourism's--our workers.
    Access to childcare is so important. People may work, of 
course, in Las Vegas and some of our hotels, they work all 24 
hours a day, three full shifts. And so really important that we 
have broad access to childcare. Of course, affordable housing 
all across this Nation. Reliable transportation to and from 
work.
    And like you said, career pathways for women and 
underrepresented minorities. So does the Department of 
Commerce--again, this is going to probably require 
collaboration, but does it itself, do you have the workforce 
and resources you need to meet the needs of implementing and 
carrying out the recommendations and policies that you have put 
forward in this strategy?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you for that question, Chair Rosen. On 
implementation, this is going to need to be a whole of 
Administration effort. Secretary Raimondo leads the Tourism 
Policy Council, which includes all the Departments and agencies 
that have programs and equities related to implementing this.
    And resourcing them and supporting them will be ongoing 
needs. I want to thank Congress as well for the important work 
that has already been done in supporting Brand USA, in 
supporting the bipartisan infrastructure law, and in supporting 
the American Rescue Plan funds that EDA is using right now, 
which again touches on some workforce development and career 
pathway issues.
    These are important efforts that will need to continue. And 
finally, I would just say that you have no greater proponent of 
such work than Secretary Raimondo, who has been speaking about 
the access to care and the need to think holistically about 
supporting workers.
    Senator Rosen. Yes, thank you again, because it is 
communities. When communities thrive, our workforce thrives, 
and our businesses thrive. But we will go back again. Senator 
Scott was talking about the visa waiver program.
    How important that is for seasonal workers and other kinds 
of workers that we need. And we need flexibility and 
modification there. And that is a whole other subject. But 
Senator Scott and I do have a new bill for promoting tourism 
between United States and Israel.
    And so the strategy recommends enhancing programs to expand 
data sharing with other countries, such as the new broader 
information--security information sharing requirement for the 
visa waiver program. It serves as a boon to international 
travel.
    We recently led a letter--led a group of our colleagues in 
sending this letter to Secretary Blinken and Secretary 
Mayorkas, encouraging them to certify Israel as an eligible 
country for participation in the visa waiver program. Adding 
Israel to the program would both enhance national security and 
boost the U.S. travel and tourism industry.
    And so, according to the U.S. Travel Association, adding 
Israel to the visa waiver program could bring an additional 
450,000 visitors from Israel to the U.S. over a 3-year period. 
That is an estimate to generate $3.6 billion in economic output 
and support over 6,000 American jobs.
    And so can you talk about how this partnership with Israel 
and possibly other international--other countries, how do we 
expand that and help us make it easier, again, for the 
international tourists?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. I appreciate the 
opportunity again to speak to visas and the work that the State 
Department and the Department of Homeland Security have 
committed to undertaking as part of the strategy.
    A big focus here is on increasing efficiencies and 
streamlining processes, and there are multiple commitments that 
are made there too, which include working with partners Canada, 
and Mexico. It includes looking at our visa programs and making 
sure that we have efficiencies wherever we can.
    I am aware of your letter and that the State Department has 
received it, and we are going to be continuing to work with 
them, not just on the visa waiver program, but across the Board 
for seasonal worker visas and nonimmigrant tourist visas and 
the like, to make sure that we are capturing these efficiencies 
and supporting them as they restaff embassies and consulates, 
and work to reduce the processing time, and make further gains 
in facilitating travel to the country.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. Senator Hickenlooper, do you have 
additional questions? OK. I wasn't sure so I just wanted to 
check. Senator Scott, do you have additional questions?
    Senator Scott. Could you talk about how you work with our 
territories like Puerto Rico and others to make sure they can 
grow their tourism industry? I know we are going to hear from 
the head of the tourism for Puerto Rico in a few minutes.
    Mr. Harris. Right. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. Very 
dangerous, given that on the next panel will be the foremost 
expert on what is happening. But I would say, particularly with 
respect to Puerto Rico, for instance, they have received an EDA 
grant that is looking at a workforce development related issue.
    It is part of this strategy throughout. We are very careful 
to, even in the language at every point, to make sure that we 
were speaking not just to State Governments, but also to 
territories and tribal Governments as well. And to your 
question, Senator, from the beginning, about what it will take 
to implement this strategy, these are important travel and 
tourism destinations.
    They are also important partners in understanding how these 
issues affect the workforce, how we need to grow the workforce. 
So for everything that I have talked about today, all 
territories and Governments will need to be important partners 
and factored in.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. Well, that leads me to the 
last question we have as a great segue, so I appreciate it. I 
want to have you just talk about innovative ways that you might 
imagine that promotes international travel. What are some of 
the innovative platforms you and your team, you have been 
thinking of to really promote this? It is so exciting. 
Everybody loves to travel.
    Like I said, so many wonderful places in the United States, 
of course, and around the world. And is this a place where you 
plan to leverage a public-private partnership? So tell us what 
you and your team are thinking of and give us a little peek 
into that?
    Mr. Harris. Thank you, Chair Rosen. I always enjoy watching 
the Subcommittee as well and individual Senators touting their 
states and bragging. It is very easy to be passionate about 
what we are talking about.
    And what I am trying to do with my team and working with 
Brand USA, the public-private partnership on marketing the 
United States, is bring that passion to a coherent story of 
everything that is on offer here, including across rural, 
urban, and underserved communities and the like.
    And Brand USA, thank you to Congress again for the 
emergency funds. The $250 million will be critical for them 
building up this marketing and putting more products on offer. 
They are being quite innovative as well.
    One example that they were referencing to me the other day 
was hiring certain influencers and allowing them to be able to 
take trips through some of the less visited parts of the United 
States and to be posting and telling the stories of these 
travel destinations that have received less media coverage or 
that are lesser known.
    That is just one of many ways in highlighting State 
specific territories, specific offerings. I think, Chair Rosen, 
the idea here is put forward an ambitious goal and make sure 
that we are all bringing every tools that we have to bear.
    Public, private partnerships, and working with industry, 
and those ideas, and that ongoing collaboration is going to be 
absolutely essential to success, as will be working with you 
and your staffs too.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I can tell you are exactly 
right. We have a lot of fun on this committee because 
everybody, we have competition between the states and all the 
great fun things that we have.
    Usually Florida has pretty much everything, but you don't 
have skiing. So, we get to win out on that. They have water 
skiing. So it just goes to show how important this is. A few 
alligators. That is right. We have to be careful of those. But 
before I--we thank you again for your time and your team's 
time.
    I really think one thing I forgot to mention is how the 
bipartisan infrastructure law, increasing that broadband all 
across this country, particularly in our small and rural 
communities. Like I said, we have some of the darkest skies in 
the center of Nevada. You can see the Milky Way. I know 
everyone has seen those great telescope pictures that were 
published yesterday looking out into the universe.
    And so it is really important that we have this broadband 
strategy. So I know that is going to be a big part of your 
marketing. So, Mr. Harris, thank you so much for your time 
today, for your team's efforts. We look forward to having you 
back and seeing how we are going to work together on this.
    Mr. Harris. Thank you. Thank you again for your leadership 
and commitment on this issue. I welcome the opportunity at any 
point.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you.
    Senator Scott. Good job.
    Senator Rosen. Great job. And so now we are going to go to 
our second part of the panel who is here virtually with us 
today. And I would first like to introduce Mr. Bill Hornbuckle. 
He is President and CEO of MGM Resorts International. Like I 
said, testifying remotely, so you will see him on the screen 
from beautiful Las Vegas.
    Mr. Hornbuckle serves as the Chair of the U.S. Travel and 
Tourism Advisory Board, which is the advisory body to the 
Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and 
tourism industry in the United States. Under his leadership, 
the Advisory Board provided critical input to the Department on 
a National Travel and Tourism Strategy that we are reviewing 
today.
    A veteran of the hospitality industry before taking over as 
CEO, Mr. Hornbuckle was acting CEO and President of MGM Resorts 
International, and prior to that served as Chief Marketing 
Officer of MGM Resorts International from 2009 to 2012. From 
2005 until August 2009, he served as President and Chief 
Operating Officer of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
    He also previously served as President and Chief Operating 
Officer of MGM Resorts International Europe, where he worked on 
the development of the company's operations in the United 
Kingdom.
    Mr. Hornbuckle is also a pillar of the Nevada community, 
not only because he leads our state's largest private sector 
employer, but also because of his work to give back to our 
great state, from education initiatives to serving on the Board 
of Three Square, a food bank in southern Nevada that is the 
area's largest hunger relief organization.
    Mr. Hornbuckle, thank you so much for testifying today, for 
your work to promote travel and tourism, and revive this key 
industry in the wake of the pandemic. I recognize you for your 
opening remarks, and I look forward to your insight on the new 
travel and tourism strategy.

           STATEMENT OF WILLIAM ``BILL'' HORNBUCKLE,

             PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,

         MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL; CHAIR, U.S. TRAVEL

                   AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD

    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Chair Rosen. And good morning, 
everybody, Ranking Member Scott and members of the 
Subcommittee. Again, I want to thank you all for allowing me to 
present the video conference today.
    Again, I am Bill Hornbuckle, Chair of United States Travel 
and Tourism Advisory Board, otherwise known as TTAB, and CEO 
and President of MGM Resorts International. The TTAB represents 
a diverse range of travel and tourism organizations, including 
private sector CEOs, State tourism officers, and destination 
marketing leaders.
    We advise Secretary of Commerce on travel related 
Government policies to ensure the United States remains the 
preeminent destination for international travel and tourism. 
The 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy lays a strong 
foundation for the travel industry's recovery and future 
growth.
    The strategy focuses on four pillars: promoting the U.S. as 
a travel destination, facilitating travel to and within the 
United States, ensuring a diverse, inclusive, and accessible 
tourism experience, and fostering resilient and sustainable 
travel and tourism.
    The strategy established a very bold goal, bringing 90 
million international visitors to the United States by 2027, up 
from the 79.4 million in 2019. Meeting this goal will generate 
over $279 billion in annual economic activity. Achieving the 
aims of the strategy requires engagement and cooperation from 
public and private sectors. Together, our priority must be to 
provide positive visitor experiences.
    From my perspective as Chair of TTAB and as a travel 
industry leader, I believe there are three essential elements 
that define a competitive travel experience. It must be 
welcoming. It must be accessible. And it must be seamless. 
Let's start with welcoming. Travelers to the U.S. can enjoy a 
breadth of destinations representing the diversity of America, 
its people, its natural wonders, and its cultural traditions.
    This diversity is a unique asset and competitive advantage. 
Therefore, the strategy underscores the need for the travel 
industry to closely partner with State, local, and tribal 
Governments to promote a diverse variety of experiences to 
international visitors. The strategy also recognizes that 
attracting and retaining a diverse workforce is indispensable 
to welcoming travelers.
    Stronger recruitment, retention, and career pathway 
programs for women and people of color are essential to 
building on that workforce. At MGM Resorts, the company that I 
proudly get to run, we have long prioritized such investments 
in majority minority communities where we operate like Prince 
George's County, not far from you there in D.C.; Springfield, 
Massachusetts; and Detroit, Michigan.
    We are proud of our workforce development and training 
efforts that create stronger local employment pipelines, and we 
intentionally design experiences to immerse regional and 
international guests alike in diverse architecture, culture, 
and cuisine.
    Accessible travel means addressing the impact of climate 
change, which threatens availability in many iconic 
attractions. Recent flooding in Yellowstone and record low 
levels in Lake Mead highlight these challenges. This strategy 
prioritizes sustainable practices and environmental stewardship 
to ensure our national treasures can continue to be responsibly 
shared with our visitors.
    Accessibility also means that our Nation's infrastructure 
in support of travel and tourism. I applaud the 
Administration's effort to pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan 
infrastructure law. And as our country begins investing the 
billions of infrastructure dollars authorized by law, I hope 
that we will consider what we must do to support our travel and 
tourism infrastructure as well.
    States and communities across the country depend on the 
travel and tourism economy, and visitors and employees alike 
must have reliable modes of transportation around these 
destinations. Consider Interstate 15 into Nevada, California 
border, where last Thanksgiving travelers faced a 20 mile 
backdrop.
    Expanding that section by 15 is the kind of much needed 
investment in high performing travel infrastructure that will 
be foundational to our industry's success. Finally, travel must 
be seamless. Technology and infrastructure play an enormous 
role in enhancing the overall ease and enjoyment of travel. The 
entire travel industry is innovating.
    Companies like ours are investing significantly in digital 
platforms to deliver speed, convenience, and personalized 
service. But we alone cannot achieve the transformation needed 
to make travel more seamless. The strategy calls for Federal 
investments to upgrade the travel experience, streamlining the 
security process, and preparing for a new era of digital IDs, 
the new digital equipment, and new processes for the CBP and 
the TSA.
    Taken together, the recommendations of the strategy are 
essential to the economy and to American workers. Working 
together, Government and the private sector can assure a highly 
competitive travel future, one that is welcoming, accessible, 
and seamless, and focused squarely on delivering growth. Thank 
you, and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Hornbuckle follows:]

Prepared Statement of William ``Bill'' Hornbuckle, President and Chief 
 Executive Officer, MGM Resorts International; Chair, U.S. Travel and 
                         Tourism Advisory Board
    Chair Rosen, Ranking Member Scott, Members of the Subcommittee:

    I'm Bill Hornbuckle; chair of the United States Travel and Tourism 
Advisory Board (TTAB) and President and CEO of MGM Resorts 
International. The TTAB represents a diverse range of travel and 
tourism organizations, including private sector CEOs, state tourism 
officers, and destination marketing leaders. We advise the Secretary of 
Commerce on travel-related government policies ``to ensure the United 
States remains the preeminent destination for international travel and 
tourism.''
    The 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy lays a strong 
foundation for the travel industry's recovery and future growth. The 
Strategy focuses on four pillars: promoting the U.S. as a travel 
destination; facilitating travel to and within the United States; 
ensuring a diverse, inclusive, and accessible tourism experience; and 
fostering resilient and sustainable travel and tourism.
    The Strategy establishes a bold goal: bring 90 million 
international visitors to the United States by 2027--up from 79.4 
million in 2019. Meeting this goal will generate $297 billion in annual 
economic activity.
    Achieving the aims of the Strategy requires engagement and 
cooperation from public and private sectors. Together, our priority 
must be to provide a positive visitor experience. From my perspective 
as chair of the TTAB and as a travel industry leader, I believe there 
are three essential elements that define a competitive travel 
experience: it must be welcoming, accessible, and seamless.
    Let's start with welcoming. Travelers to the U.S. can enjoy a 
breadth of destinations representing the diversity of America--its 
people, natural wonders, and cultural traditions. This diversity is a 
unique asset and competitive advantage. Therefore, the Strategy 
underscores the need for the travel industry to closely partner with 
state, local, and Tribal governments to promote a diverse variety of 
experiences to international visitors.
    The Strategy also recognizes that attracting and retaining a 
diverse workforce is indispensable to welcoming travelers. Stronger 
recruitment, retention, and career pathway programs for women and 
people of color are essential to building that workforce.
    At MGM Resorts, we have long-prioritized such investments in 
majority-minority communities where we operate, like Prince George's 
County and Detroit. We are proud of our workforce development and 
training efforts that create a stronger local employment pipeline. And 
we intentionally design experiences to immerse regional and 
international guests alike in diverse architecture, culture, and 
cuisine.
    Accessible travel means addressing the impact of climate change, 
which threatens the availability of many iconic attractions. Recent 
flooding in Yellowstone and record low water levels in Lake Mead 
highlight these challenges. The Strategy prioritizes sustainable 
practices and environmental stewardship to ensure our national 
treasures can continue to be responsibly shared with visitors.
    Accessible also means that our Nation's infrastructure must support 
travel and tourism. I applaud the Administration's efforts to pass the 
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As our country begins investing the 
billions of infrastructure dollars authorized by this law, I hope that 
we will consider what we must do to support our travel and tourism 
infrastructure, as well. States and communities across the country 
depend on the travel and tourism economy and visitors and employees 
alike must have reliable modes of reaching these destinations.
    Consider Interstate 15 at the Nevada-California border, where last 
Thanksgiving, travelers faced 20-mile back-ups. Expanding that section 
of I-15 is the kind of much-needed investment in high-performing travel 
infrastructure that will be foundational to our industry's success.
    Finally, travel must be seamless. Technology and infrastructure 
play an enormous role in enhancing the overall ease and enjoyment of 
travel.
    The entire travel industry is innovating. Companies like mine are 
investing significantly in digital platforms to deliver speed, 
convenience, and personalized service. But we alone can't achieve the 
transformation needed to make travel more seamless. The Strategy calls 
for Federal investments to upgrade the travel experience, streamlining 
the security process, and preparing for a new era of digital IDs, with 
new digital equipment and new processes for CBP and TSA.
    Taken together, the recommendations of the Strategy are essential 
to the economy and to American workers. Working together, government 
and the private sector can assure a highly competitive travel future--
one that is welcoming, accessible, and seamless--and focused squarely 
on delivering growth.
    Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you, Bill. I am going to turn it 
over to Senator Scott to introduce our witness here, and next 
witness here in person, Brad Dean. Senator.
    Senator Scott. Thanks, Chair Rosen. I would like to welcome 
Mr. Brad Dean to the Subcommittee. Mr. Dean is the CEO of 
Discover Puerto Rico. Anybody that hasn't been to Puerto Rico, 
you should go. It is a beautiful place with wonderful people. 
But Discover Puerto Rico is an organization that promotes 
tourism to foster economic growth through the island of Puerto 
Rico.
    Mr. Dean got his start in the great State of Florida and 
did a great job there and has led a successful career in 
championing tourism in Myrtle Beach and now Puerto Rico. He is 
also the Vice Chair of the United States Travel and Tourism 
Advisory Board, which played a large part in crafting the 2022 
travel and tourism strategy that we are discussing today.
    We look forward to your testimony about the importance and 
success of tourism in the great island of Puerto Rico.

  STATEMENT OF BRAD DEAN, CEO, DISCOVER PUERTO RICO AND VICE 
            CHAIR, TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD

    Mr. Dean. Thank you. Good morning. Buenos dias. I am Brad 
Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico and Vice Chair of the Travel 
and Tourism Advisory Board. Thank you, Chair Rosen, and thank 
you, Ranking Member Scott, for the opportunity to come before 
you today to address the 2022 National Travel and Tourism 
Strategy.
    In our role as an advisor to the Department of Commerce, 
the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board has offered numerous 
recommendations that positively impact our travel and tourism 
industry nationwide, and many of those recommendations have 
made it into the strategy.
    I can confirm that the process was collaborative, 
inclusive, and involved a diverse array of perspectives from 
both the public and the private sector. I commend Secretary 
Raimondo for her leadership and vision in establishing this new 
strategy and also for being a champion of the industry within 
this Administration.
    Also want to thank Assistant Secretary Harris, the 
International Travel Administration and International Travel 
and Tourism Office staff for their work, as well as the Tourism 
Policy Council, and of course, our TTAB colleagues, especially 
our Chair, Mr. Hornbuckle, for the exceptional work and 
dedication they have shown.
    The organization I lead, Discover Puerto Rico, is a public, 
private partnership created in 2018 to lead a recovery of 
tourism throughout the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico following 
the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. To the 
surprise of many, Puerto Rico began with an amazing recovery, 2 
years, in fact.
    And then 2020 arrived and we started 2020 with a successive 
string of earthquakes, followed by a global pandemic. Yet we 
emerged from the depths of this crisis reaching all-time record 
levels of performance in terms of tourism revenues, taxes 
collected, and most importantly, more people employed in 
leisure and hospitality than ever before in our industry.
    And through the first 6 months of this year, we are on pace 
to set even new records and greater heights in travel and 
tourism. In our island, we have relied upon travel and tourism 
to strengthen the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as we transition 
from merely surviving to thriving.
    Puerto Rico in many ways is a model for the kind of 
progress that our Nation's travel and tourism industry must 
pursue as we seek not to simply recover to pre-pandemic levels 
of commerce, but rather build back better, stronger, more 
competitive, and more resilient.
    And it is with this perspective that I evaluate and 
consider the National Travel and Tourism Strategy. This new 
strategy is broad, bold, and it is ambitious, laying out a 
roadmap to accelerate travel's recovery and reach 90 million 
international visitors by the year 2027.
    Because the national strategy is so broad, I think it is 
imperative that Congress and the Administration focus on key 
priorities to ensure that we accomplish the goals in this 
strategy. And when it comes to promoting the United States as a 
travel destination, Congress and the Administration are to be 
commended for reauthorizing and fully funding Brand USA, our 
highly impactful and very efficient national destination 
marketing organization.
    A remarkable example of what can be accomplished through 
public, private partnerships. We now need to consider 
additional measures to ensure that we meet the goals set forth 
in the strategy. For example, leisure travel has enjoyed a 
robust pace of recovery. Business travel still lags behind.
    The Federal Government should build upon the success 
achieved with the EDA grants for tourism within the American 
Rescue Plan and consider a second round of grants specifically 
targeted at reviving the meetings and conventions travel 
segment.
    When it comes to facilitating travel throughout the United 
States, wait times for visitor visas, which in some countries 
have recently exceeded 380 days, are a major impediment to 
growing international inbound travel.
    The Congress and the Administration should certainly take 
necessary steps to modernize and improve visa travel 
processing. Our Nation's infrastructure is, of course, the 
backbone of the travel and tourism industry.
    Yet this is one area where nationally our competitiveness 
has waned. Congress and the Administration should target 
infrastructure dollars toward the travel industry's most 
pressing industry's needs, and the Department of Transportation 
should quickly update its national travel and tourism 
infrastructure strategy.
    One of the most pressing challenges faced by our industry 
is the lack of available workforce. In Puerto Rico today, we 
employ 86,250 American citizens in leisure and hospitality, and 
yet many businesses are still understaffed. So when record 
employment is not enough, it speaks to the significant 
challenge we face in workforce.
    Of course, the private sector bears a lot of responsibility 
for building that competitive, diverse, and inclusive 
workforce, but there are a number of things the Federal 
Government can do to assist in that process.
    The development of this new National Travel and Tourism 
Strategy is an important step forward in building a more 
resilient, sustainable, robust, and highly competitive travel 
and tourism industry for the future.
    The bold agenda laid out in this new strategy offers a 
pathway forward to not simply recover, but to do for our Nation 
what travel and tourism has done for the island of Puerto Rico, 
transforming us from surviving to thriving with record levels 
of visitation, spending, and employment.
    Again, I would like to thank Subcommittee Chair Rosen, 
Ranking Member Scott, Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, 
and all of the Subcommittee members for not just holding this 
important hearing, but for your support for our Nation's travel 
and tourism industry.
    I am confident that together we can ensure that the best 
days of our travel and tourism industry lie before us and not 
behind us, and I look forward to answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Dean follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Brad Dean, CEO, Discover Puerto Rico 
           and Vice Chair, Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
    Subcommittee Chair Rosen, Ranking Member Scott, Chair Cantwell, 
Ranking Member Wicker, and members of the subcommittee, I'm Brad Dean, 
CEO of Discover Puerto Rico and the Vice Chair of the Travel and 
Tourism Advisory Board (TTAB). Thank you for the opportunity to appear 
before you today to address the 2022 National Travel and Tourism 
Strategy (``Strategy'').
    The TTAB serves as the advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce 
on matters related to America's travel and tourism industry. Over the 
past year, the TTAB's efforts have focused on advising and supporting 
the Department of Commerce in various matters related to travel and 
tourism.
    The organization I lead, Discover Puerto Rico, is a public-private 
entity created in 2018 to help shape and lead a recovery of tourism in 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico following the devastation wrought by 
Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which occurred nearly five years ago. To the 
surprise and amazement of many, Puerto Rico's tourism industry 
recovered in just two years after those hurricanes but, of course, like 
our counterparts worldwide, we were severely impacted by the global 
pandemic. In fact, our 2020 began with several successive earthquakes 
followed by the pandemic. Yet as we emerged from the depths of that 
crisis, the worst ever in the history of our industry, Puerto Rico's 
tourism industry set all-time records in 2021, with more visitors, more 
tax collections and (perhaps the most important statistic of all) more 
people employed in leisure and hospitality than ever before in our 
history. And, through the first six months of 2022, we are on pace to 
reach even greater heights this year. In an island that is no stranger 
to adversity, we have relied upon travel and tourism to strengthen the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as we transition `from surviving to 
thriving'.
    It is with this perspective that I earnestly study and evaluate the 
strategies and tactics identified in the Strategy.
National Travel and Tourism Strategy
    First and foremost, I commend Secretary Raimondo for her leadership 
and vision to establish a new national strategy, and for being an 
outspoken champion for travel and tourism within the administration. 
I'd also like to thank Assistant Secretary Harris, the Tourism Policy 
Council, and the leadership and staff of the International Trade 
Administration (ITA) and the National Travel and Tourism Office for 
their work to craft the Strategy. Last, but certainly not least, I'd 
like to thank my TTAB colleagues, especially our Chair Mr. Bill 
Hornbuckle, who joins me here today, for the time and expertise they 
contributed to this important effort.
    Over the past year, the TTAB developed seven sets of 
recommendations to positively impact travel and tourism, covering 
topics such as COVID-19 recovery, national visitation goals, workforce, 
technology, and climate change.\1\ Several of the TTAB's 
recommendations were included in the final Strategy, and I can 
confidently say that the process has been collaborative, inclusive and 
thorough--bringing together diverse perspectives from across the public 
and private sectors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ https://www.trade.gov/travel-and-tourism-advisory-board-
recommendations-0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Strategy lays out a roadmap to accelerate travel's economic 
recovery and build a more sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and 
globally competitive industry for the future. The strategy also 
establishes a national goal of welcoming 90 million international 
visitors who will spend an estimated $279 billion annually by 2027.
    To achieve these goals, the Strategy is organized around four 
pillars:

   Promoting the United States as a travel destination;

   Facilitating travel to and within the United States;

   Ensuring diverse, inclusive, and accessible tourism 
        experiences; and

   Fostering resilient and sustainable travel and tourism.

    Within these pillars, the plan describes 21 separate strategies and 
more than 100 identified actions that the Federal government can take.
Analysis, Priorities, and Next Steps
    The timing of this new Strategy could not come at a more important 
time, as we should not simply seek to return to pre-pandemic levels 
but, rather, aim to accomplish nationally what the people of Puerto 
Rico have recently accomplished: rising up in the face of adversity, 
building forward bigger, better and stronger, using the power of travel 
and tourism to spur economic growth and create opportunities for 
Americans in all 50 states and every U.S. jurisdiction.
    The Strategy is broad, bold, and ambitious. There is, perhaps, no 
more ambitious goal stated in the Strategy than the new national goal 
of welcoming 90 million annual international visitors by 2027, which 
aligns with TTAB's recommendations and would ensure the U.S. regains 
its global market share of international visitation.
    Considering the profound reduction in international travel over the 
past two years, that goal might appear to be unrealistic. Admittedly, 
to grow from 22 million international visitors in 2021 to 90 million in 
2027 is a huge leap which requires a record pace of growth never before 
seen at the national level. Yet recent research reassures us that 
international visitors are eager to visit the United States and that 
recovery is already underway.\2\ In my island of Puerto Rico, we 
welcomed more than twice the number of international visitors in the 
first quarter of 2022 as compared to 2021,\3\ and we expect that 
recovery pace to accelerate now that COVID-19 testing for inbound 
international arrivals has been lifted. We must now take the necessary 
steps to convert traveler interest into commerce.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ International Air Transport Association (IATA), Passenger 
Forecast March 2022.
    \3\ Airline Data Inc., March 2022 International Passenger Analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Because the Strategy is so broad, one key challenge will be to 
identify areas of focus and specific next steps. To overcome this 
challenge, I believe the administration, Congress, and the travel and 
tourism industry should focus on a few key areas and take several 
specific steps this year.
    When it comes to promoting the U.S. as a travel destination, the 
United States Congress and the administration are to be commended for 
taking a first and very important step that makes recovery possible: 
reauthorizing and fully funding Brand USA, the Nation's destination 
marketing organization. The results produced by Brand USA prior to the 
pandemic have proven the efficiency and unrivaled impact of this 
public-private partnership and I firmly believe full recovery of 
international inbound travel would not be possible without a fully 
funded Brand USA. In addition, the Federal government should:

   Launch a second round of Economic Development Administration 
        (EDA) grants specifically targeted at reviving the meetings, 
        conventions and events travel segment. While leisure travel has 
        enjoyed a robust recovery, the meetings, conventions and events 
        segments lag behind. The Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation 
        grants administered by the EDA under the American Rescue Plan 
        have enabled communities throughout our Nation to revive travel 
        and tourism and are an important part of the robust leisure 
        travel recovery. Learning from the successes of this grant 
        program, the government should consider launching a second 
        grant program designed to accelerate the recovery of meetings, 
        conventions and events.

   Focus on facilitating state, local, territory and tribal 
        bids for large-scale international events. In 2021, domestic 
        and international business travel spending on large meetings 
        and events was down a startling 70 percent compared to 2019. 
        Unfortunately, U.S. bids for large international events are 
        often unsuccessful due to concerns about lengthy visa 
        processing times, long wait-times at customs, or inadequate 
        infrastructure.

    The administration can commit visa processing resources, customs 
        staffing, or infrastructure investments to support large 
        international events that will be hosted in the U.S. or to make 
        U.S. bids for future events more competitive. Congress can 
        provide additional funding for ITA, Customs, and State to 
        support facilitation services.

    When it comes to facilitating travel to and within the United 
States:

   Focus on reducing visa wait-time to an average of 15 days or 
        less in the top inbound markets that require a visitor visa. Of 
        the top inbound markets that require a visitor visa and are 
        able to travel to the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and India account 
        for 77 percent of the visitors. As of May, average wait-times 
        in these three countries exceeded 380 days. To achieve the 
        national goal of welcoming 90 million international visitors by 
        2027, the administration should focus first on reducing average 
        visa wait times to less than 15 days in these three markets\4\:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Note: China is the second largest inbound travel market as 
measured by visitor volume. However, we did not include China in this 
initial list of recommended countries because the Chinese government 
still severely restricts outbound travel by Chinese citizens.

    Congress and the administration should also take steps to modernize 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
and improve visa processing, including:

     Increased staffing at the embassies and consulates in 
            high-priority countries.

     Conducting group processing for large tours and events 
            being held in the U.S.

     Offering expedited visa processing fees for B1 and B2 
            applicants

     Waiving B1 and B2 visa renewal interviews for low-risk 
            applicants.

     Enacting legislation to authorize the use of video 
            conferencing technology for low-risk renewals.

   Seek a secure, seamless, touchless travel process. Beyond 
        visa processing, we should aspire to develop a best-in-class 
        system of travel facilitation and processing that optimizes the 
        use of technology, protects personal privacy and ultimately 
        delivers a safe, seamless, and efficient travel process by 
        eliminating unnecessary touch points. This will require 
        extensive collaboration with private sector partners, but the 
        Federal government must play a key role. Beyond cost and time 
        savings, reducing person-to-person contact has important public 
        health benefits, as we observed during the pandemic.

   Target infrastructure dollars towards the travel industry's 
        most pressing infrastructure needs. The Infrastructure 
        Investment and Jobs Act can transform how Americans move and 
        how destinations compete in the decades to come--but only if 
        the travel industry has a seat at the table, identifies its 
        investment priorities, and actively seeks funding.

    The administration should proactively develop guidance for State 
        Tourism Offices, regional tourism alliances, local destination 
        marketing organizations, and travel businesses that identifies 
        funding opportunities for investments in travel mobility, 
        resiliency and sustainability.

    The Department of Transportation should promptly update its 
        national travel and tourism infrastructure strategy and appoint 
        a Chief Travel and Tourism Officer to promote travel related 
        investments and policies across all modes.

    When it comes to ensuring diverse, inclusive, and accessible 
tourism experiences, the Strategy prioritizes this as a primary 
objective necessary to extend the benefits of travel to all communities 
throughout the United States. In Puerto Rico, we recognized early on 
that to differentiate our island from the competition and position 
Puerto Rico as the premier leisure and business travel destination in 
the Caribbean region, we must rely upon something more than sandy 
beaches and warm weather. Promoting the rich, vibrant culture of Puerto 
Rico and a myriad of unique, memorable experiences while ensuring we 
remain a welcoming, inclusive island has provided a foundation for a 
brand marketing strategy that has grown annual visitation to record 
levels. In fact, this has been so successful our marketing strategy has 
evolved to positioning Puerto Rico as not simply a vacation destination 
but, more so, a fun, vibrant, passionate lifestyle through an open 
invitation to travelers to Live Boricua. From our experience, I can 
attest to the remarkable potential of offering diverse, inclusive and 
accessible tourism experiences, but I must also acknowledge that we 
could not have accomplished this without unwavering support and 
widespread cooperation from our partners throughout the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, including businesses, municipalities and the central 
government. If we are to leverage this same type of effort nationally, 
it will require widespread collaboration on numerous fronts. 
Additionally:

   Congress and the administration should focus on restoring a 
        diverse and inclusive travel workforce. Like the rest of the 
        economy, the leisure and hospitality sectors are experiencing 
        significant workforce shortages. Filling open positions in our 
        industry was not easy before the pandemic, but it's proving to 
        be even more challenging today. In Puerto Rico, we currently 
        employ 86,250 U.S. citizens\5\ in leisure and hospitality, an 
        all-time record for our island. Yet local businesses regularly 
        tell me they are still understaffed. When record employment is 
        not enough, it's clear just how deep and expansive this 
        workforce challenge is.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2022.

    Today, there are 1.5 million jobs open in the leisure and 
        hospitality sector, which accounts for one-out-of-eight jobs 
        open nationwide. For every 100 jobs that are open nationwide, 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        there are only 48 Americans looking for work.

    The administration can build a more diverse, inclusive, and robust 
        travel industry workforce by taking steps to:

     Target Department of Labor and Department of Commerce 
            grants towards workforce recruitment and apprenticeships in 
            the travel industry.

     Expand access to and prioritize efficient processing 
            for temporary work visas, especially in the top countries 
            for H-2B and J-1 visas.

     Collaborate with the private sector to develop and 
            utilize career education content that can be useful to 
            young Americans evaluating future career options.

    Congress can help by enacting legislation to expand the number of 
        available temporary work visas, especially the H-2B and J-1 
        programs.

    When it comes to fostering resilient and sustainable travel and 
tourism:

   Focus on reducing the carbon intensity of transportation 
        fuels. According to the World Travel and Tourism Organization, 
        more than 50 percent of emissions from travel and tourism come 
        from transportation.

    The administration can focus on expanding the availability of EV 
        charging stations at popular travel destinations and 
        attractions by targeting Community Grants towards popular 
        travel destinations and attractions, such as convention 
        centers, hotels, National Parks, entertainment venues, and 
        other businesses that travelers frequent.

     Congress can also enact legislation to expand and 
            increase the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit 
            (Section 30C credit) through 2031.

     Congress can also establish a $1.50-$2.00 per gallon 
            blender's tax credit for SAF that achieves at least a 50 
            percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) 
            emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. The World 
            Economic Forum and others have called SAF ``the only viable 
            option to decrease emissions in the aviation sector.'' 
            i
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \i\ World Economic Forum, ``Ten Critical Insights on the Path to a 
New Zero Aviation Sector,'' October 2021. https://
missionpossiblepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/MPP-Aviation-
Transition-Strategy-2021.pdf

     Congress can also enact legislation to increase the 
            Section 179D deduction for energy efficiency projects that 
            enable a building to acquire LEED Platinum certification, 
            currently capped at $1.88 per square foot.ii
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \ii\ Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, ``179D 
Commercial Buildings Energy-Efficiency Tax Deduction.'' https://
www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/179d-commercial-buildings-energy-
efficiency-tax-deduction

   Engage small businesses and seek community-based solutions. 
        While our industry is becoming more aware of its environmental 
        impact, many small businesses still lack the expertise to 
        effectively address complex issues such as sustainable 
        development, climate impact or carbon emissions. Providing 
        meaningful, reliable baseline measures and assisting small 
        businesses by identifying actionable steps will be necessary if 
        we are to make broadscale progress. Ultimately, these efforts 
        must extend well beyond the C-suite into the local networks of 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        citizens, governments and tourism-related business operators.

    In Puerto Rico, El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. 
        Forest Service System, is a treasured asset and our most 
        visited attraction. Innovative leadership by the local U.S. 
        Forest Service Office is making major strides of progress in 
        sustainable tourism, balancing economic growth with eco-
        friendly travel practices and community impact. By addressing 
        basic issues such as accessibility and water quality through 
        local community-based planning, engagement and training, what 
        began as a quest for sustainable tourism has evolved into 
        micro-business economic development and more efficient visitor 
        flows.
Conclusion
    The development of the first National Travel and Tourism Strategy 
in more than a decade is a necessary step forward in building a more 
resilient, sustainable, robust and competitive travel industry for the 
future.
    It also highlights the need for Congress to enact the Omnibus 
Travel and Tourism Act of 2021. Simply put, the Act would:

   Ensure national travel and tourism strategies are 
        consistently developed and carried out across administrations;

   Establish an Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism 
        charged with carrying out the national strategies on an annual 
        basis and coordinating travel policies across the Federal 
        government; and

   Provide permanent statutory authority for the TTAB to 
        solidify this productive public-private-partnership.

    I'd like to thank Subcommittee Chair Rosen, Ranking Member Scott, 
Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker, and all subcommittee members for 
holding this important hearing and for your continued support of 
America's travel and tourism industry. Together, I believe we can 
ensure that the best days of our travel and tourism industry lie before 
us, and not behind us. I look forward to answering your questions.

    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I am confident that they 
lied before us as well, and I know Senator Scott is confident 
of that. And so as we think about assessing the national 
strategy, the Tourism and Travel Advisory Board, you did 
provide key recommendations to the Department of Commerce 
during the development of the National Tourism and Travel 
Strategy that we have just been discussing with Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce Harris.
    And we have also been talking about how it might be 
implemented. So before I get into specific questions about 
particular aspects of the strategy and how it can revive our 
tourism economy, I would really like to hear from both of you 
representing the Nation's key private sector tourism 
stakeholders on the advisory Boards you oversee, about your 
assessment of the Department's plan.
    So, Mr. Hornbuckle, what is your overall assessment of the 
strategy they put forth? What do you feel are its key strengths 
and where do you think it falls short? What else do we need to 
include or think about here in Congress? And then, of course, 
we will follow up with Mr. Dean.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Senator Rosen, for the question. 
Let me just echo my thanks to my colleague and ultimately to 
Secretary Raimondo and Assistant Secretary Harris. The 
collaboration on this has been extensive. It has been 
thoughtful. It was taken on through TTAB and others, a great 
deal of stakeholder input, and so they ought to be thanked for 
that. And generally and overall, the strategy is bold.
    When you talk about 90 million visitors by 2027, that will 
be upon us quickly. When you think that they took it seriously, 
and I think ultimately this committee and the Administration 
has taken tourism and travel seriously, obviously, 1 in 20 jobs 
in the United States depend on it. And the investment has been 
there.
    Your support of Brand USA and the $250 million will go a 
long way in re-igniting what has been a great tourism story 
over the last several decades. A couple of thing I would point, 
maybe to point to or point out, focusing on making travel to 
and in, and out of the United States, but once you get in, is 
critical.
    I think you heard it throughout the Assistant Secretary's 
comments, my comments, Mr. Dean's comments, you know, making an 
easier pathway is essential. You also heard me talk about 
investment in infrastructure. There is $1.2 trillion sitting 
there making sure that in the instance I gave, whether it is 
our I-15 or airports--I recently had the opportunity to go 
through Amsterdam Airport and the technology that is deployed 
there to get people through that with ease is amazing and 
critical.
    So I would not necessarily critique it in the context of 
what is not there. I think it would be about what gets done. I 
think it is an encompassing plan. I think it is a well thought 
through plan. I think it is incumbent upon all of us to make 
sure we have got the resource, the focus, and the necessary 
dedication it needs to implement it, because I think that 
becomes the trickier part.
    Given the scale and scope, these are not small goals, and 
it will take a great deal of focus. So with that, Madam Chair, 
I turn the question back to you.
    Senator Rosen. Your thoughts on the strategy.
    Mr. Dean. As I mentioned earlier, this is a bold, ambitious 
strategy. And I am reminded of my grandfather, who was not a 
learned man, but maybe one of the wisest people I ever met, who 
often reminded me that you always have time for those things 
which you place first.
    And so to me, the real question is where do we go in terms 
of action steps and items, especially in light of the questions 
earlier in this hearing about the collaboration that is 
required between State, Federal Governments, and the private 
sector partners. I think it is absolutely critical that we 
build upon the success that Brand USA has already created. The 
interest is there, and we are already seeing that with an 
amazing body of research that tells us that international 
travelers are ready and eager to return to the United States.
    And in fact, even in Puerto Rico, in the first quarter of 
2022, we welcomed more than twice as many international 
visitors as we did a year ago. So that recovery is already 
underway. But the visa time processing is going to be a major 
impediment going forward. And I think it is important that we--
we consider where we were with the 2012 national strategy, 
which reflected the same concern at that time.
    And we saw a lot of progress thereafter. I think it is 
absolutely important that we focus on those countries where the 
greatest lag and short term potential exists. I believe three 
out of four potential visa processing opportunities lie within 
three countries: Mexico, Brazil, and India. So we should 
certainly start there.
    I think also in terms of the quick and necessary actions to 
accelerate the recovery, it is going to be absolutely 
imperative that we look to the second tier and third tier 
cities, not just the top tier cities. It's one of the great 
benefits of Brand USA is they really level the playing field 
and allow all of us to participate.
    So I think their plan going forward to promote and expand 
travel and tourism, especially with their current innovative 
effort of the united stories, telling those amazing stories 
throughout the United States, and I think that is particularly 
relevant as we think about approaching a very important and 
historic milestone, the 250th anniversary of this great Nation. 
What an extraordinary opportunity.
    All communities, large, small metro world, both in the 50 
United States, as well as the other jurisdictions of the U.S., 
to be able to amplify that message and share with the world 
what great stories we have, the beautiful places and the 
beautiful faces that we offer, making extraordinary travel 
experiences.
    So for me, the plan is solid. Now we have to take the next 
steps to put this plan into action to ensure that we return our 
travel and tourism industry to the robust, economic, vibrant 
machine it was before.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I share your enthusiasm for 
that. And I do think your grandfather was a very wise man. 
Those are wise words. I am going to turn it over to Senator 
Scott for a round of questioning.
    Senator Scott. OK. Thank you, Chair Rosen. Puerto Rico is a 
standout destination for tourism in the Caribbean and is a 
shining example of economic recovery from not only pandemic, as 
you talked about, but also from two large hurricanes. So what--
why don't you talk about what you did and what were the 
contributing factors?
    Mr. Dean. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott. I would be 
remiss if I did not acknowledge the support we received from 
Visit Florida, I believe at the time you were Governor. But 
Visit Florida, the State of Nevada, the State of California, 
Texas, South Carolina, a number of others were actively 
involved in helping us create this new public, private 
partnership.
    And that was particularly important because after decades 
of tourism promotion that had been inconsistent, largely due to 
the frequent changes in leadership of the Puerto Rico 
Government, we finally now have a private sector-led public-
private partnership that is delivering record results, and I 
think that was certainly an important step.
    But I must admit, I think the real strength and certainty 
of the recovery in Puerto Rico is the spirit of strength and 
resiliency within the people of Puerto Rico. When you consider 
what they have faced over the last six to 7 years, the Zika 
virus, hurricanes Irma and Maria, earthquakes, not to mention, 
you know, financial challenges and then a global pandemic, 
their sense of unity transcends Governmental, political, and 
socioeconomic barriers, and that has certainly been the 
foundation for the recovery.
    I also think that the Beatles said it best, ``we get by 
with a little help from our friends.'' We have had 
extraordinary support from the Federal Government, which 
continues on through this day. We have had partners, not only 
the State tourism levels, but at Brand USA, which dedicated a 
lot of time and resources to that.
    And I have to acknowledge one of the most successful 
programs that helped fuel that recovery was a community 
development block grant, the CDBG disaster recovery funds that 
HUD authorized. The final estimate of the return on investment 
for the Federal Government after it was all said and done was 
$106 of direct economic impact for every Federal dollar 
invested.
    A great ROI not only for the island of Puerto Rico and for 
the Federal Government, but I think it really comes down to the 
character and resiliency of the people of Puerto Rico, the 
innovative model that we have been able to apply, which 
promotes the rich, vibrant culture of the island, and then the 
partnerships both in the private, public sector which has 
allowed us to set a record pace for recovery in travel and 
tourism.
    Senator Scott. So in Florida, I think one out of every 
about six jobs is tied to tourism. What is it like in Puerto 
Rico and how important is tourism to the workforce in Puerto 
Rico, and the base of taxes for the state and her island 
Government?
    Mr. Dean. When you consider, you know, pre-pandemic, a $9 
billion economic engine that employs 86,000 people and 
generates over $760 million of taxes, to an island that 
admittedly has faced its fair share and then some have 
financial difficulties, I don't think we can even begin to 
properly state, at least I can't, the true value of travel and 
tourism. But I think oftentimes, Senator, we in the industry 
perhaps do ourselves a bit of a disservice by always pointing 
to the numbers, jobs and taxes and revenues are important.
    But I think travel and tourism is more effective and 
impactful in Puerto Rico, and I would say the same for my peers 
and communities throughout the 50 states. When you think about 
travel and tourism, it is not simply a generator of economic 
activity, but oftentimes the first date for relocation and 
commercial investment.
    Before people invest in your community and create jobs, 
they experience your hotels, your restaurants, your taxicabs. 
And we have seen even by using the Longwood's Heywood--Halo 
study to measure the impact of travel and tourism advertising, 
how much more likely people are to think favorably about your 
community or in this case, your island, through travel and 
tourism marketing.
    It reminds us of the sheer importance of this industry. It 
is not lost upon me, and I am sure not upon you or any member 
of this subcommittee, that there is no other industry in the 
United States of America that on any given day employs more 
people, speaks to more people, and serves more people than the 
travel and tourism industry.
    So when you consider that, the importance of travel and 
tourism in Puerto Rico is far beyond my ability to describe in 
words.
    Senator Scott. So what--so in Florida, what you just talked 
about was absolutely true. You know, generally no one moves to 
Florida before they come as a tourist first, and then they 
move, possibly themselves, or a business. So we sold a lot of 
homes that way. Does that happen in Puerto Rico?
    Mr. Dean. It certainly does. And we have seen that not only 
in the metropolitan area, but in some of the outlying areas.
    In fact, like your states of Florida and Nevada and I am 
sure others represented on this subcommittee, oftentimes that 
demand for housing that starts with a visitor who is now 
relocating or investing maybe a second home or rental property 
often competes with the housing needed for local residents, 
which I think underscores the importance of affordable housing 
strategies in all that we do.
    But we have definitely seen both before and after the 
pandemic, the impact that travel and tourism has on the real 
estate and development industry. And I don't expect that to 
slow down anytime soon.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
    Senator Rosen. I would like to recognize Senator Sullivan. 
Great state of Alaska.

                STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN, 
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA

    Senator Sullivan. Thank you. Well, another great discussion 
on the Subcommittee, so I want to thank the Ranking Member and 
the Chair. I think this is a--you know, I just wish a lot of 
our colleagues could be hearing, Mr. Dean, your discussion.
    I never really thought about it that way about, tourism 
brings the kind of tip of the spear of investments and buying 
homes and a vacation home. That is--obviously that happens in 
all of our states. So that is really a great insight. I never 
really thought about it that way. I have been someone who has 
kind of been thinking about it on the numbers.
    And in Alaska, you know, the numbers for us are really big. 
It is a big part of our economy like it is for Nevada and 
Florida and so many other states. So it also helps us with our 
trade deficit. As you know, tourism on our services account 
favorably to the goods and service surplus that we need.
    I just hosted Ambassador Tai up in Alaska last week, the 
U.S. trade rep and kind of walked her through a lot of the 
ideas of promoting tourism. So my question for you and Mr. 
Hornbuckle is the issue of our Tour Bus legislation that has 
within it legislation that I have been pushing for a while, the 
Visit America Act.
    And I am not a big Government guy. I don't think the 
Ranking Member is. I am not sure about the Chair, but either 
way. But I do think, to your point, our tourism sector, given 
how important it is to the economy of the United States, really 
doesn't have a strong, singular voice. Now, I know we just had 
Mr. Harris testifying, but if you look at his responsibilities, 
I mean, he has a huge portfolio, right.
    And tourism is kind of at the bottom. So here is my 
question to both of the witnesses. First of all, the Tourism 
and Travel Advisory Board I think has done a really good job. 
In my legislation, we have two, kind of, things that would, we 
think, help make our Government have a more strong, steady 
focus, stay on tourism.
    Number one, make the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 
permanent. Pretty simple. Keep you guys focused and make sure 
you know that you are going to be around for a while. And then 
second is, we have this idea of an Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce, Senate confirmed, to be focused solely on tourism, 
period.
    No offense to Mr. Harris, but we want somebody every day to 
get up and say, hey, what are we doing for this industry? And 
it is important because when you look at, say, most G20 
countries, not only do they have that, they all have tourism 
ministers, cabinet officials in charge of tourism.
    And we don't have anything. We don't even have a Senate 
confirmed position. So to you and Mr. Hornbuckle, what would 
your views on making the advisory committee permanent, but this 
idea of a senior American official who does this every day when 
they wake up--Senate confirmed, not Mr. Harris, that is their 
only job?
    The way most other countries in the world have that. 
Actually, like I said, at a cabinet level position. What is 
your thought about that? And then Mr. Hornbuckle.
    Mr. Dean. I am happy to offer my thoughts, but I will defer 
to my Chair, Mr. Hornbuckle to respond first and then I will 
follow up after that if that is OK.
    Senator Sullivan. OK. Good, sure.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Senator, thank you for your question. Yes 
and yes. In the context of, I think the work we have been able 
to accomplish, particularly through Secretary Raimondo and now 
again, obviously in recent appointment, Assistant Secretary 
Harris, has been meaningful. Much like Puerto Rico, Nevada, 
where my company employs over 50,000 people in Southern Nevada 
alone, we are the industry of the state.
    And what happens in our industry happens in the state, and 
so goes its economy. And so to the extent that there would be 
potentially a Federal position that is appointed by the Senate, 
that would be solely focused on an industry that captures 1 in 
every 20 jobs and is the lifeblood of maybe a half a dozen 
states in this Nation, and is critical, highly supportive of 
that.
    To the extent, we all do a great job locally, we all do a 
great job, generally speaking, in promoting our own tourism, 
but the effort, the energy and the coordination it would take 
to take, whether it is Federal money through infrastructure or 
ultimately even tourism money and focus it and have somebody 
who wakes up every day, that work gets focused on, gets 
accomplished, it is quite simple. And so we would be highly 
supportive of that.
    Senator Sullivan. Great. Good. Thank you very much. Mr. 
Dean, do you have a--?
    Mr. Dean. I would echo what Mr. Hornbuckle said. I 
absolutely think this is a necessary and important next step. 
When you think about the magnitude of the travel and tourism 
industry, the jobs created, the revenues, the taxes, to borrow 
from you, to have someone who wakes up every morning asking, 
what can we do to take that next step?
    And not just on a national scale, but how do we take these 
programs and work it through this intricate network of regional 
tourism promoters, State tourism organization, destination 
marketers. I think having that point person to lead that effort 
actually complements the work being done by the National Travel 
and Tourism Office and Assistant Secretary Harris.
    So I see it as a plus up, certainly not a replacement. And 
more so to that point, I am a bit biased because I have served 
multiple terms on the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, but I 
do think statutorily guaranteeing this sends a powerful message 
to the industry that it is important to engage.
    Of course, we have to make sure that the Board continues to 
be diverse and inclusive and reaches all different segments of 
destinations as well as industry segments, which I think it 
currently does in many respects. So I certainly think that is 
an important--and I would take it one step further.
    My hope is the Department of Transportation will perhaps 
follow the same path, update their national travel tourism 
infrastructure strategy, and I believe, you know better than I 
do, prior legislation actually called for a similar position in 
the DOT. In a dream scenario for me, but maybe it is not a 
dream because I am speaking to the people who can make this 
reality.
    I think every major Federal agency should have a top level, 
highly placed individual that is there to make certain that the 
travel and tourism industry and the Federal Government are 
closely aligned. It happens sometimes not efficiently because 
we find the right people within the Administration.
    But I think having a highly placed leadership position in 
major agencies will not only make us more efficient, I think it 
would help the industry better liaise with the Federal 
Government and I think it would prepare the Federal Government 
to be even more impactful in helping grow this important 
industry that impacts every community throughout our great 
Nation.
    Senator Sullivan. Great. And Madame Chair, you know, just 
following up on two other points, I think, from this hearing. 
One is that, you know, this is also an industry that is so 
impactful for states like ours. It is really impactful, but I 
think it impacts everybody. And it is also an industry that 
everybody supports, right.
    Let's face it, there are certain industries, I am a big 
energy--my state is a big energy producer. OK, we have got some 
colleagues who aren't so, you know, thrilled about producing 
oil and gas. I think we need it. I think the men and women who 
produce oil and gas are heroic and producing something that we 
need and have helped us win wars and make our country strong.
    But not everybody is a big supporter. But the tourism 
sector, I mean, who is not--what U.S. Senator is not a big 
supporter of the tourism sector. That is one. But I think, you 
know, just looking at Mr. Harris's portfolio, right, seven 
different offices, many of which are very different, trade, 
manufacturing.
    I mean, so again, no offense to him, but I think the 
witness on the first panel almost proves our point, which is 
having someone focused on this industry day in and day out, 
Senate confirmed so it is a high level position, is good and 
helps us compete with other countries who have minister level 
Government officials in charge. So hopefully we will keep 
moving on this.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate it. I will 
tell you, I think everyone on this committee thinks that we 
should have a national director for tourism and travel. And I 
know that Senator Klobuchar, who I am going to recognize next, 
author of Brand USA, of course, 10,000 likes in Minnesota, lots 
of things.
    As I have said, it is a great committee. We all know all 
the wonderful things about our states. Senator Klobuchar, I 
would like to recognize you, please.
    Senator Sullivan. Madam Chair, I just want to mention, you 
know, 10,000 likes in Minnesota. I think I mentioned in the 
last hearing, 3 million likes in Alaska. So, I just, I know 
Senator Klobuchar likes to----
    [Laughter.]

               STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, 
                  U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA

    Senator Klobuchar. OK. So, I have heard about this. And I 
think we can take this offline for our discussion.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Klobuchar. I will note your biggest street in 
Anchorage, or at least one of them is called Minnesota Avenue.
    Senator Sullivan. That is very true. That is very true.
    Senator Klobuchar. That is true. We have a lot of people 
going back and forth between our states. But with that, I want 
to thank our two witnesses from beautiful places that I have 
visited, spent some time in. And I want to, first of all, just 
start out. I know a lot of people have mentioned Brand USA and 
thank you to the Chairwoman for her leadership on that and so 
many other things.
    But the Brand USA is a bill that Senator Blunt and I have 
long championed, and in March we were able to restore funding 
to Brand USA. Mr. Dean, I know you have talked about the 
importance of destinations and evening the playing field. Can 
you talk about how important it is to keep this going?
    Because we have some places that are big destinations that 
everyone can afford their own their own public relations and 
strategies and ads, but some can't. And it is important to have 
a national strategy when it comes to Brand USA. Mr. Dean.
    Mr. Dean. Thank you, Senator. I think you have underscored 
to me one of the most important and perhaps under-recognized 
benefits of Brand USA. We can certainly point to the 
efficiency, the return on investment. There is no question our 
Nation is getting a great return on its investment through 
Brand USA.
    But one of the greatest benefits is how Brand USA allows 
smaller communities, rural communities, regions that couldn't, 
even with the budget, promote themselves around the world. And 
we certainly see that in Puerto Rico.
    I think to some of the recent international visits that we 
were able to attract with influencers and media coming to help 
us tell the story of the recovery in Puerto Rico, they are 
going to the coffee haciendas in Eduardo and at Juntas. You 
might never know they existed if you are an international 
visitor, but Brand USA allows us to benefit our industry and 
our coffee farmers that way.
    They allow us to showcase our communities like Cabo Rojo on 
the West Coast, and Ponce, the glorious city on the South 
coast. These are unique destinations within the island that 
offer an extraordinary opportunity for--to experience the rich, 
vibrant culture, to live Boricua, as we like to say. And we 
simply could not do that even with a substantial increase in 
our budget.
    What Brand USA allows us to do, for all of us, is to tell 
our stories as part of those united stories and showcase 
ourselves to the global travelers that many of us wouldn't be 
able to reach otherwise.
    So beyond the economic impact, which is substantial and 
clearly proven over and over again, I think their ability to 
level that playing field, allowing rural communities, second 
tier and third tier cities that wouldn't otherwise compete, to 
be able to accomplish that.
    Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Now, of course you are 
challenging me with all the mention of places in Puerto Rico, 
which, as I have said, I have enjoyed your--you know, Mr. 
Hornbuckle is going to want to mention every place----
    Mr. Hornbuckle. I want to--I promise, I promise----
    Senator Klobuchar.--you know, I have probably visited, and 
I of course, you are just getting me going to want to mention 
Duluth and Lanesboro, and in addition to the Mall of America 
and many, many great places in my own state. I want to turn to 
something else, and that is the wait times that we are seeing, 
long visa wait times as we return to international travel.
    And I have appreciated some of the work that has been done 
recently to make it easier to travel internationally. You know, 
right now, inbound travelers can expect to wait 702 days in 
Guadalajara, 354 days out of Brazil, 643 days out of Colombia, 
and other things. And these are, of course, the international 
travelers, as we all know, bring in, you know, a lot of funds, 
and that means good for our jobs and good for our businesses in 
the U.S.
    I know the Administration is focused on increasing visa 
processing capacity by 40 percent in the top countries that 
require a visitor visa, including Brazil and India. Either Mr. 
Hornbuckle, maybe you can answer this.
    Do you see Congress as playing a role in helping to reduce 
wait times and increasing processing capacities? And do you 
think that would be helpful?
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Unequivocally, yes, Senator. Thank you for 
the question. Look, we just experienced July 4th in Las Vegas, 
not only wait time for visas, but once you have got here to get 
through the process, once you landed with another two and a 
half hours. And so welcome to Las Vegas.
    Welcome to America. Please stand in this line for two and a 
half hours. And so, honestly, anything and everything that can 
be done not only to continue to fund because resources are 
essentially what is behind this, but to create workplace 
environments where training is effective and appropriate, where 
people want to go to work. We have all gone through TSA.
    It is not a pleasant experience for the consumer, probably 
for most of the employees. And so to the extent we can put 
technology at play, whether it is in pre-visa in some of these 
particularly foreign countries, we have an environment that you 
may know we operate a couple of properties in Macao and before 
the COVID and the ongoing COVID crisis and close down, many, 
many, many of those jurisdictions in mainland China were 
putting automated visas through.
    And so it was simple as getting something on your phone, 
and you are pre-qualified, and you literally went through a 
process. Technology has impacted and helped our business. We 
now have mobile check-ins, something that COVID kind of forced.
    And with the reality that, it is 25 percent of the people 
who come to one of our resorts and never touch the front desk. 
They then use that device for other ways around the resorts. 
And ultimately it gives us a connectivity to those people for 
marketing to hopefully have them return to us.
    And so the essence and the idea that we could start at home 
because the trip does start at home, the moment you decide to 
go, what is that process, and ultimately elevate a focus on all 
of it would be just something that is desperately needed at 
this point.
    I think it has been mentioned a couple of times, but 700 
days for a visa is not acceptable. It is just not. And so----
    Senator Klobuchar. Exactly. Just last year, quickly, I 
assume workforce shortage as well as we look toward immigration 
reform, doing something here to make sure we have workers in 
these jobs, would also be helpful in travel and tourism.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Without a doubt. Again, I mentioned a 
number earlier. We employ about 62,000 people. We have had in 
Las Vegas alone 5,000 job openings since we came out of the 
COVID pandemic.
    We stabled up the workforce pretty quickly, but now we have 
hit a plateau and we have been sitting on a number like that 
for better part of a year. It is a couple things. Yes, it is 
economics. It is always economics at core. But there is a whole 
new mindset around workforce--work life balance.
    People in our industry work hard. They work long hours. 
They work mostly when people don't want to work, weekends, 
nights, holidays. And so training, getting people in. Yes, I 
will tell you my story. I literally was a busboy who made it to 
CEO. This industry has a lot to offer.
    And to the extent we can get people in programs for 
training, we do, I think, a fairly good job both in the company 
and throughout some of our industries to do that. But we just 
need more help.
    We need more support, and frankly more resource to put 
people into effective training programs that can live and lead 
to lifelong careers.
    Senator Klobuchar. Exactly. Well, thank you very much to 
both of you. And mostly thank you, Senator Rosen, for your 
incredible leadership. Thank you.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. Senator Scott, 
do you have any second round of questions?
    Senator Scott. Sure. Well, first off, I want to thank both 
of our witnesses for being here. In both of your jobs, one as 
Chair and Vice Chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory 
Board, and in your roles, in your respective roles in your 
companies, can you tell us what you are excited about as far as 
the strategy and how you will implement it in your different 
roles? And so, we will start with Mr. Hornbuckle.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Senator, again for the question. 
Look, what is amazing to me is the rebound of travel 
domestically. Obviously, we have spent a great deal of time 
talking about international travel, but we are up from where we 
were in 2019. Our resorts are filled principally with domestic 
travelers.
    And so there is a mindset, whether it is escape, whether it 
is a whole new mindset on life given COVID and all that that 
has brought emotionally to people in their families, travel is 
on--you know, we are on fire in the context of domestic travel. 
Our corporate business is coming back.
    And now thank you to the Administration and to yourselves 
for lifting the testing requirements, our international 
business is starting to come back. So I am just very excited 
about the notion of travel, the notion of international travel.
    Of note, we are about to host next year for the first time 
something you enjoy hosting in Florida, F1. That will draw 
150,000 visitors, I think, to our community as it does to 
Miami. And so those are the kinds of things that excite me. And 
so a basic overview.
    Senator Scott. Mr. Dean.
    Mr. Dean. Ranking Member Scott, I think perhaps what 
excites me the most is, I think back over the past couple of 
years, the worst crisis ever in the history of this industry. 
If you have ever seen the movie, ``It's a Wonderful Life,'' you 
remember the character George Bailey, who got to see what the 
world was like without him.
    And we have had our George Bailey moment. We have seen what 
the world is like without travel and tourism. And it wasn't a 
pretty picture. I am hopeful that as we emerge from this 
crisis, that we have a greater appreciation for the impact of 
travel and tourism, not only as a huge economic generator that 
creates millions and millions of jobs, but also as an important 
source of elevating the profile of our Nation and the 
communities therein.
    So perhaps a greater appreciation. And that is not just 
those in the public sector. That is us is the private sector as 
well. I am especially excited when I think back to the last 
National Travel and Tourism Strategy in 2012, the kind of 
innovation that it spurred.
    So I am hopeful that some of these seemingly aspirational 
but yet realistic possibilities, like a truly seamless, secure, 
efficient travel process that is touchless, that not only helps 
to reduce cost in time for travelers and businesses, but also 
enhances public health, I think those kinds of opportunities 
are the kinds of yield that we could see out of this.
    There is so many actions and strategies recommended in this 
National Travel and Tourism Strategy that, as I mentioned 
earlier, we certainly need to prioritize. But as I look at this 
plan, if we can establish and maintain the kind of 
collaboration nationally that we have seen in the island of 
Puerto Rico and build upon of our successes, recognizing the 
importance of this industry, I think our best days truly are 
before us.
    And I am excited and optimistic about what lies ahead.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. For each of you in your roles, in 
your roles on your jobs, what are the--what would you say were 
the two or three biggest things Congress could do to improve 
what you are trying to do in your respective roles?
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Senator, if I may, and thank you for the 
question. One thing we haven't really touched on, although you, 
I heard this conversation earlier about lakes, we have a lake 
in Las Vegas called Lake Mead.
    One of the things that concerns us and the things that at 
least keep us up at night aren't the things we can control, it 
is the things we can't control. And so leaning into this 
committee, into the other agencies that impact this, Lake Mead 
is in trouble. We are down to 26 percent of its original high.
    It feeds 90 percent of our valley with the water. We only 
get, meaning Southern Nevada and Nevada, 2 percent of the 
lake's water. But it is essential to our livelihoods and to 
ultimately the continuing growth and prosperity in the 
community.
    So anything and everything that can be done and focused 
around resources, obviously that is our example. We have other 
issues that are caused by rising water, temperature change.
    Yellowstone, that I mentioned in my opening remarks and 
comments, just all critical to our success, and the kind of 
thing that obviously we will focus on through TTAB, and 
ultimately, hopefully this committee can help us focus on with 
the right Federal resources to make sure that things that are 
essential as water are continuing to be fed to the community is 
like ours. So, thank you.
    Senator Scott. Mr. Dean.
    Mr. Dean. Yes. I think one thing that we didn't touch on 
when we talk about the meetings and events sector is the 
important role the Federal Government can play in helping 
facilitate bids for these large, massive events and 
conventions. The times, the visa processing time, the wait 
time, the customs challenges, and other infrastructure issues 
can be a competitive impediment.
    So it is not looking to the Federal Government to 
necessarily lead the process, but to help facilitate some of 
these bids, which I think would help not just our major 
markets, but the compression therein.
    Another thing that certainly the Congress can lead is to 
help make sure the Department of Transportation targets not 
just resources for high priority travel and tourism 
infrastructure projects, but to provide guidance for regional 
tourism alliances and State and regional tourism promoters to 
allow us to better access some of those travel and tourism 
dollars that we know are going to be important to building the 
infrastructure we need.
    And certainly targeting workforce related grants that would 
help young Americans who perhaps don't realize the amazing 
future that awaits them with a career in travel and tourism, I 
think is certainly something to help.
    And last but certainly not least in Puerto Rico, anything 
the Congress can do to encourage FEMA to accelerate the 
investment that you have already made. I think there is 
billions of dollars that are on the way to Puerto Rico to 
rebuild its infrastructure.
    Last I checked, just a small percentage of the 13,000 
projects that have been approved and funded by the U.S. 
Congress and Administration have been completed. So we need to 
accelerate that process.
    And while that may not be directly up to you, anything you 
can do to influence that is certainly helpful to the future of 
Puerto Rico, not just travel and tourism, but to the people 
overall.
    Senator Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. Well, you both set me up 
for my last two questions. And so we are going to build a 
little bit upon what, Mr. Dean, what you just mentioned about 
leveraging large scale events. And no one does it better than 
Las Vegas. We are home to national and international 
conventions and special events. We draw hundreds of thousands 
of visitors at a time to the Las Vegas strip, downtown, 
throughout our entire valley.
    We know that these marquee events, from the Consumer 
Electronics Show to the really exciting NFL draft, along with 
Nevada small businesses, well they drive revenue not only for 
their hosts but for the hotels, restaurants, live 
entertainment, businesses nearby, shopping, and the like.
    And the travel and tourism strategy, I know, understands 
this direct impact. It recommends that the Federal Government 
tie marketing of U.S. travel and tourism to these large scale 
events, collaborate with State, local, tribal efforts to bring 
more international events to the United States.
    So, Mr. Hornbuckle, I know in Las Vegas, I am not sure, I 
think we are still number one, but we are one of the top of the 
list for conventions in this country. And so give us your take 
on what you think we, this strategy and what we should be doing 
to be sure that we grow these conventions and our tourism?
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Senator, for the question. Look 
for Nevada, we have about 45 million visitors. I think we have 
had a peak and we are heading back toward that number, which 
about 7 million of them were convention delegates and 
conventioneers, in benchmark by things like Consumer 
Electronics Show and other international events at scale.
    And so everything we have been talking about is essential 
to all of that. I think to stay focused on visa, to stay 
focused on the actual process once you get and get through the 
system, on TSA and just the receptivity and the arrival itself 
is critical.
    You know, continuing to work with, I think, other countries 
and other consulates around getting real information out to 
people about the destination and about the process and the 
education around how to apply for visas is essential.
    I think there is a great deal of effort that is going into 
that and more needs to continue to go. But there is no place 
like Las Vegas for events. I mentioned earlier F1, something we 
are excited by. We will host Super Bowl in a month--next month 
we are hosting two international FIFA soccer teams. I think it 
is Liverpool against Leeds, if I am remembering correctly.
    I think Barcelona is coming out as well. And those events, 
you know, thousands of people, there is a team coming up from 
Mexico and we will put 60,000 people in the stadium, much like 
they do all around the country.
    But just ease of access and travel is really the critical 
point. Those events will help promote some of themselves. There 
are such large scale. Brand USA is very impactful and 
meaningful, but particularly for the smaller destinations.
    For us, the focus needs to be and wants to be ease of 
coming in and getting to the jurisdiction or the destination, 
excuse me, so that the experience would be something that they 
want to repeat.
    Formula 1 is a great example. We have signed it up for 3 
years with an option to do more. I would like that to be a 
permanent thing for this community and for the country for a 
very long time. I think it is a place that this industry hasn't 
gone and something that could be really net additive.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I see Senator Tester just 
came online. Senator Tester, if you have some questions, I want 
to throw it over to you since we are in our second round, if 
you are ready. Are you there? He was there. No, he's not. Well, 
then I will--thank you for that answer, Mr. Hornbuckle. 
Anything you want to add for coming to a wonderful island 
resort for your convention, perhaps?
    Mr. Dean. Puerto Rico has a lot of things to offer, but we 
can't compete with Mr. Hornbuckle in the meetings that he 
hosts. But what I can offer is a couple of things. We have 
talked a lot about visa processing times. One thing we could do 
that would help us attract larger events is to allow for group 
processing of travel visas.
    When you bring in a large event, a conference, that would 
certainly make it more efficient, a competitive advantage, or 
at least improvement of where we are at today. And that could 
actually benefit other communities that aren't necessarily 
hosts for major events.
    When you think about large tour operators, which will 
probably be the tip of the spear of the recovery when it comes 
to international travel. The other thing, I mentioned earlier 
but I will emphasize this is, I believe you are going to have 
an extraordinary array of success stories from the $750 million 
of travel and tourism grants, many of which went toward leisure 
travel and outdoor recreation.
    I think it merits consideration, a second round of those 
grants to target specific needs, whether it is programs, it is 
equipment, infrastructure to allow communities to be better 
prepared and more competitive in hosting these events. When you 
think about it, just a few weeks ago, the Island of Puerto Rico 
hosted a sustainability summit hosted by the World Travel and 
Tourism Council.
    Extraordinary, you would think that they could have gone 
anywhere in the world, and they ended up in Puerto Rico. 
Thankfully, we have a large, technologically advanced 
convention center, so communities that don't have those 
advantages might not be able to compete. So those are two 
things that we could certainly do to help that.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. Well, that--I have one last 
question. And it really is, or comment. I want to hear what you 
have to say. Of course, all of this, as we have mentioned more 
broadly, really lies on a national strategy for our 
infrastructure.
    If we don't have ports and roads and bridges and trains, 
airports, all of those things, then people can't travel 
efficiently and effectively and go to see so many of the 
beautiful destinations that we have. And I would say on the 
base of a lot of that really is broadband and our investment in 
broadband.
    And the bipartisan infrastructure law, which I was proud to 
help write and pass, it does include provisions I helped draft 
that make significant broadband investments in rural and 
underserved communities, something that I know are going to be 
critical for leveling the playing field for travel.
    And people come to our large destination and then may want 
to venture out to see some other beautiful things in the state 
of Florida. They might go to Miami and then go down to maybe 
the Florida Keys, right, do I have that right? In Nevada, they 
may visit if they are in Las Vegas, our beautiful Red Rock 
Canyon just a few minutes off the Las Vegas strip.
    So according to the NTIA broadband maps, I am going to ask 
you a little bit about Puerto Rico, then, Mr. Hornbuckle. I 
will ask you what you think about infrastructure generally as 
we allude to climate change and the others.
    Less than half of Puerto Ricans have access to basic 
broadband service. Can--so can you talk about how this 
investment in broadband is going to just help your economy 
overall? And of course, yours is really a tourist based 
economy.
    Mr. Dean. Yes. Subcommittee Chair Rosen, you are absolutely 
right in terms of the importance and impact, not just on travel 
and tourism, but commerce in general and the quality of life. 
We have been very fortunate in Puerto Rico to see a huge 
historic investment in infrastructure in our island as a result 
of some very unfortunate circumstances almost 5 years ago with 
two major hurricanes.
    But having seen what has happened since the massive 
investment of infrastructure, today we have three 5G 
communication networks and 31 Internet service providers, which 
has actually become a competitive advantage for us in competing 
for many types of travel and tourism business within the 
Caribbean region. However, that is limited to certain areas of 
Puerto Rico.
    So the importance of expanding those types of networks, 
particularly broadband connectivity, not only levels the 
playing field, I think it opens up important business 
opportunities. And in an island like Puerto Rico, where there 
is so many Federal assets, the only rainforest in the U.S. 
Forest Service system, to be able to access technology is a--it 
is a multiplier, if you will, of the economic potential.
    And what we have seen is that and the focus on local 
community engagement is actually allowing the Federal 
rainforest in Puerto Rico, El Yunque, to become a micro-
business economic development tool. So I think it is incredibly 
important and it speaks to the future potential of travel and 
tourism, not just in Puerto Rico, but throughout the United 
States.
    Senator Rosen. Well, we could use some of that rain 
certainly in the state of Nevada and all the West Coast where 
we are experiencing extreme drought. Mr. Hornbuckle, anything 
you want to add about how these investments in our 
infrastructure, workforce, housing, childcare, how it is going 
to make a difference to support your industry.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Sure. It is again, thank you for the 
question, Senator. As I alluded to earlier, obviously there are 
large scale projects. I am grateful that Secretary Raimondo 
opened up the very subject of infrastructure, because obviously 
most of it and most of the heavy lift and the work has been 
done over the Department of Transportation.
    But what we are endeavoring to do is to identify large and 
small projects that will have a major impact on our industry. 
And so whether it is the I-15 corridor that I mentioned 
earlier, whether it is funding for technology and development 
of ease of getting through airports, particularly the process 
through TSA, or that last mile, as I call it, where it is 
workforce, where it is helping in a couple of our instances 
where the public transportation just doesn't quite get to the 
last mile, where so many people, so many of our entry level 
positions rely on public transportation to get to work, to make 
it accessible, because right now it isn't in every place.
    Obviously, some of our destinations are remote, but the 
vast majority, and particularly the ones that are near a city, 
getting people to work, getting them home safely from work is a 
critical thing. And candidly, it has become a deterrent in some 
instances where we can't get people to take a job to begin with 
because that transportation is a substantive issue for them.
    So it is broad stroke, it is broad based. What we have 
committed to is to focus on it and then ultimately try to push 
it. I hope we don't end up in an environment with the 
transportation monies of note and the infrastructure monies, 
much like I just heard in Puerto Rico, where you fund it, but 
getting it done, it is taking some time and some energy.
    And so the ability to focus on what is important to all of 
us and identify by priority, I think is essential. And 
ultimately to help with that last mile for workforce management 
and getting people in and home safely from work, is critical to 
just basic employment.
    Senator Rosen. Well, thank you. I want to thank both of 
you. The enthusiasm for what you do, for your communities, for 
travel and tourism is really infectious. And there is just so 
much excitement, the ability to renew and to grow and innovate.
    And I do believe that this is the Government, private 
partnership, the public, private partnership that will build 
communities large and small across this Nation. Just like 
Senator Sullivan alluded to, this is the place that every 
state, it matters, and everyone is behind it.
    And I think that we can hopefully get our Tour Bus passed 
and get someone who wakes up every day, every day, and this is 
what they are focused on. So thank you again for being here. 
The reason our Committee is named Tourism, Trade, and Export 
Promotion is because when people come here, they see who we 
are.
    It promotes us all around the world, and we just want to 
continue to do that. So I appreciate your time. For course, Mr. 
Brad Dean from the first panel. He is no longer with us. We 
appreciate him as well. And so this hearing record will remain 
open for two weeks until Tuesday, July 26, 2022.
    Any Senators who would like to submit questions for the 
record should do so by Tuesday, July 26, 2022. For those of you 
who testified today, we ask that your responses be returned to 
the Committee as quickly as possible and in no case later than 
two weeks after receipt.
    That concludes today's hearing. Thank you again.
    Mr. Hornbuckle. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Bill.
    [Whereupon, at 11:53 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

   Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                          Hon. Grant T. Harris
    Tourism Visa Backlog. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 
2020, the number of international visitors arriving in Arizona declined 
by 76 percent. The number of overseas visitors traveling to Arizona 
declined by 88 percent during the same time period. In addition to 
Canada and Mexico, large numbers of international visitors from the 
United Kingdom, France, and Germany travel to Arizona to enjoy our 
majestic landscapes and desirable climate. During the hearing, several 
of my colleagues highlighted backlogs in visa processing for tourist 
visas. Tourist visa appointment wait times in the top ten inbound 
markets, including many European nations, are over 400 days on average.

    Question. How does this visa backlog affect international travel? 
What steps can Congress take to address this issue? Have you seen any 
recent changes in the tourism visa wait times?
    Answer. The Department is aware of concerns about visa wait times, 
and the challenges which came about largely due to closures at 
embassies and consulates around the world in the wake of COVID-19. 
Through the development of the Strategy, the Department of Commerce has 
been working closely with the Department of State to encourage steps to 
address this challenge. I will defer to the Department of State on how 
this can best be addressed as that agency is responsible for the 
adjudication of visa applications, but Commerce is committed to working 
with them as they address visa wait time issues and work to get 
embassies and consulates back to full staffing. In addition, this 
challenge is addressed at a high level in the ``Facilitating Travel to 
and within the United States'' pillar of the Strategy, which calls for 
the development of technologies to streamline efficiencies in visa 
processing, among other items, which DHS and State will lead.

    Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act. I am a proud cosponsor of 
bipartisan legislation S. 3375, the Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act. S. 
3375 includes a number of bipartisan bills to promote U.S. tourism. The 
bill establishes an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and 
Tourism to coordinate with Commerce Department and other Federal 
agencies on U.S. domestic travel and tourism issues and develop 
strategies to enable more international travelers to visit the United 
States. It also requires the Commerce Department to set annual travel 
export goals and provide recommendations related to improving visa 
processing and improving domestic in addition to international tourism.

    Question. If enacted, how will the Department utilize the new tools 
provided in the Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act?
    Answer. If enacted, we pledge to implement the law and keep 
Congress informed on its implementation.

    National Tourism Strategy. I appreciate that the 2022 National 
Travel and Tourism Strategy includes a focus on promoting diverse and 
accessible tourism experiences. Several Native American tribes in 
Arizona host significant numbers of visitors each year to visit sites 
and attractions such as Monument Valley and Four Corners on the lands 
of the Navajo Nation and the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the lands of the 
Hualapai Tribe.

    Question. How will promoting these diverse experiences affect the 
communities that tourists visit?
    Answer. The Department believes the diversity of tourism 
attractions and experiences is a great asset in attracting travelers to 
the United States. Commerce also believes that a sustainable tourism 
ecosystem maximizes the benefits of travel and tourism to our 
communities. The Strategy specifically calls for working with state, 
local, and tribal governments to identify the tourism opportunities 
that they desire and to support them with planning and, where possible, 
funding assistance to achieve their goals. Supporting local 
communities' planning and preparation for the future will help balance 
their needs while attracting increased numbers of visitors. We also 
believe involving underserved populations in local planning is 
essential to advancing equity and environmental justice.
                                 ______
                                 
   Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Kyrsten Sinema to 
                      William ``Bill'' Hornbuckle
    National Tourism Strategy. I appreciate that the 2022 National 
Travel and Tourism Strategy includes a focus on promoting resilient and 
sustainable tourism. The Southwest is currently in the midst of the 
worst drought in 1,200 years, and the Bureau of Reclamation has called 
on Colorado River Basin states to conserve two to four million acre-
feet of water in order to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

    Question. How would conserving water levels at Lake Mead affect 
tourism in Las Vegas and southern Nevada?
    Answer. In 2021, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area was the 
fifth most visited park in the National Park System, with 7.6 million 
people \1\ visiting its 750 miles of shoreline. Visitors come to the 
lake to hike, swim, boat, and fish. Additionally, Lake Mead serves as 
the primary water source for Las Vegas, providing approximately 90 
percent of the water supply in southern Nevada.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ ``Most famous national parks set visitation records in 2021,'' 
National Park Service, February 16, 2022.
    \2\ ``Our current water supply,'' Southern Nevada Water Authority, 
Accessed August 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    When it comes to water in southern Nevada, every drop matters. For 
decades, MGM Resorts, the state of Nevada, and our partners have 
consistently and robustly supported efforts to conserve and reuse as 
much water as possible. Las Vegas resorts welcome millions of visitors 
each year, but due to our collective efforts, resorts throughout 
southern Nevada consume only 4.9 percent of municipal water.\3\ Water 
conservation and sustainability is ingrained in our industry--in who we 
are.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ ``2021 Water Resources Plan,'' Southern Nevada Water Authority, 
Accessed August 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While southern Nevada relies on the Colorado River for most of its 
water supply, the community is entitled to less than 2 percent \4\ of 
the river's water. Las Vegas Strip resorts, including those operated by 
MGM Resorts, use a globally leading circular water management system 
managed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) which requires 
each new casino to provide a detailed water conservation plans to SNWA 
before being approved for construction. Through this collaboration, 
nearly every gallon of water used inside buildings is recycled back to 
its source, Lake Mead, allowing Las Vegas to grow into a global tourism 
destination despite its desert landscape. Through our water 
conservation efforts, which include water efficient buildings, drought-
tolerant landscaping, water recycling, and an onsite well for use by 
the iconic Fountains at Bellagio, MGM Resorts is well on our way to 
achieving our goal of reducing water use at our properties by 33 
percent by 2025.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ ``I-Team: `Colorado River Compact' continues to limit how much 
water Nevada receives,'' 8 News Now, November 15, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Still, the Colorado River Basin is experiencing the worst drought 
in history. Water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell have resulted in 
significant water level declines, prompting the Federal government to 
issue shortage declarations threatening our communities' access to 
water and the United Nations to issue a warning that Lake Mead and Lake 
Powell are in danger of reaching `dead pool status,' a water level so 
low, it could no longer flow downstream \5\ .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ ``As the climate dries the American west faces power and water 
shortages, experts warn,'' United Nations, August 2, 2022.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In order to prepare our communities and businesses for the future, 
states must collaborate in preparing and implementing long-term 
solutions for adequate water sources. We need collaboration that 
crosses state and local lines, welcomes business innovation, and 
enlists everyone in the battle to preserve our water resources. The 
Federal government has a critical role in this effort--and that role 
should include funding efforts to promote water conservation, 
especially across Colorado River Basin states to make our water 
supplies sustainable and making investments in the infrastructure and 
water security programs needed to supply it to our homes and 
businesses. If we do not act, the water level in Lake Mead is going to 
become an increasingly important factor in the business decisions not 
only in Nevada, but all across the West. And just as we have tried to 
incorporate a holistic approach to water issues, we hope Congress and 
Federal agencies will look for a holistic approach as well.
    Last year, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included the Drought 
Contingency Plan (DCP) designed to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell 
from reaching critical water elevations through voluntary reductions 
and increased conservation. Additionally, the House recently passed 
H.R. 5118, the Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency (WRDR) Act, 
which includes legislation to provide $500 million to prevent key 
reservoirs of the Colorado River from declining to unsafe levels, 
providing investments to support drought resiliency. The bill would 
also invest in water recycling and desalination projects to improve our 
Nation's water infrastructure. I applaud your leadership on addressing 
the historic water crisis we are facing at Lake Mead. I urge Congress 
and the Administration to fully fund drought resilience efforts and 
work together prioritize our country's water reliability and 
resiliency.
    I also encourage the Federal government to support initiatives that 
help keep more water in the Colorado River Basin as well as 
collaborative work with states, with matching funds, and technical 
assistance. That would help not only Nevada, but everyone throughout 
the entire Colorado River Basin system.
    Please feel free to contact me should you have additional thoughts 
or concerns.

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