[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 91 (Thursday, July 14, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                THE IMPACT OF TOURISM ON UTAH'S ECONOMY

                                 ______


                          HON. KAREN SHEPHERD

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 1994

  Ms. SHEPHERD. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, we recognized National 
Tourism Week, and I want to take a moment to note the enormous positive 
impact of travel and tourism on the U.S. economy. Tourism is a $360 
billion a year enterprise providing nearly 6 million jobs. It is this 
Nation's second largest employer and creates jobs at twice the average 
rate of all U.S. industries.
  Tourism is a $3 billion industry in Utah and is a vital component of 
the sustainable economy we are trying to build. Over 14 million 
visitors experience the natural wonders of Utah each year, with three-
quarters of a million of them from other countries.
  Foreign tourism is especially important and constitutes what has been 
called an ``invisible export,'' and in 1992, foreign tourists spent $20 
billion more in this country than Americans spent abroad.
  As the Utah experience shows, this trade surplus is vital to the 
economies of many States, 32 of which are represented in foreign 
countries. Because of efforts by States to promote U.S. tourism, and 
because of the efforts of many in Congress who have focused on this 
important industry, tourism will only become more integral to our 
economic fortunes. In fact, the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration 
predicts that by the year 2000, tourism will be this Nation's leading 
export.

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