[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 36 (Friday, March 15, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S2198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WARNER:
  S. 1623. A bill to establish a National Tourism Board and a National 
Tourism Organization, and for other purposes.


              THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROMOTION ACT OF 1996

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, many of us do not focus on the 
impact that the travel and tourism industry has on our economy. Tourism 
means jobs in all of our States and tax revenue for our Federal, State, 
and local treasuries.
  Whether it be our hotels, airlines, restaurants, campgrounds, 
amusement parks, or historically significant sights, tourism works for 
America.
  The U.S. travel and tourism industry is the second leading provider 
of jobs in this Nation and the third largest retail industry giving the 
United States a $21.6 billion trade surplus.
  Just last year, visitors from abroad brought approximately $80 
billion to our economy which is one-fifth of the total $400 billion 
provided to the economy by the travel and tourism industry. It should 
be an economic powerhouse.
  However, our lead is slipping. For the past several years the U.S. 
share of the international travel market has declined. Last year, 2 
million fewer foreign visitors came to the United States, representing 
a 19-percent decline. This translated into 177,000 fewer travel-related 
jobs.
  Mr. President, we must reverse this decline. We need to attract more 
international tourists and enhance the travel experience for both 
domestic and international travelers. The United States must remain the 
destination of choice for world travelers.
  I am therefore introducing legislation today to create a public-
private partnership between the travel and tourism industry and the 
Federal Government to aggressively market the promotion of 
international travel to the United States.
  With the elimination of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, 
the United States will become the only major developed nation without a 
Federal tourism office. We need a national strategy to maintain and 
increase our share of the global travel market. Other nations pour 
money into marketing attempting to lure tourists to their shores, and 
they are doing it at our expense. This legislation will provide the 
tools with which the United States can compete with any nation.
  We can counter these foreign promotion dollars with a combination of 
technical assistance from the Federal Government and financial 
assistance from the private sector. This legislation will create a true 
public-private partnership between the travel and tourism industry and 
the public sector to effectively promote international travel to the 
United States. It supplants the big-government, top-down bureaucracy 
which was eliminated with the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration.

  The bill establishes a Federal charter for a National Tourism Board 
and a National Tourism Organization, which will act as a not-for-profit 
corporation. Members of the National Tourism Board will be appointed by 
the President with the input of the travel and tourism industry to 
advise the President and Congress on policies to improve the 
competitiveness of the U.S. travel and tourism industry in the global 
marketplace.
  The National Tourism Organization will be charged with implementing 
the tourism promotion strategy proposed by the National Tourism Board. 
The president of the National Tourism Organization will also serve as a 
member of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, which is the 
agency that develops our U.S. export trade promotion and financing 
programs, thereby further promoting the economic importance of the 
travel and tourism industry.
  A primary task of the National Tourism Organization will be the 
establishment of a travel-tourism data bank to collect international 
market data for dissemination to the travel and tourism industry and to 
promote tourism to the United States at international trade shows.
  No later than 1 year upon enactment of this legislation, the officers 
of the organization will meet to make recommendations for the long-term 
financing of the organization. However, no Federal funding is 
associated with this legislation. This is an industry-funded and 
industry-directed initiative.
  Travel industry leaders from around the Nation enthusiastically 
endorsed the plan embodied in this bill when it was introduced at the 
just-completed White House conference on travel and tourism. In 
addition, this bill has the support of the White House, the House 
leadership, and 189 House Members.
  Together, through the collective talent of both the board and the 
organization, as well as the technical assistance provided by the 
Federal Government through its staff and data collection, it is my hope 
that America will once again launch itself into the international 
tourism market as the destination of choice--bringing more jobs as well 
as revenue to our States and local communities.

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