[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6620-S6621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRAVEL PROMOTION ACT

  Mr. MARTINEZ. Madam President, this week the Senate will be 
considering the Travel Promotion Act, which is an important bill for my 
home State of Florida.
  Every year, millions of tourists travel to the United States from 
overseas, helping our economy, generating revenues for States and 
communities, and creating job opportunities for millions of Americans. 
But for most of this last decade there has been a huge dropoff in 
visitors to the United States from other countries. Between 2000 and 
2008, the U.S. tourism industry has experienced an estimated 58 million 
lost arrivals, $182 billion in lost spending, $27 billion in lost tax 
receipts, and $47 billion in lost payroll. We have also lost 245,000 
jobs. One in eight Americans is directly or indirectly employed by the 
travel industry. The industry contributes $1.3 trillion to the U.S. 
economy, and the industry contributes $115 billion in tax revenue.
  In Florida, home to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, many 
beautiful beaches, the Everglades, some of the best fishing and 
snorkeling in the world, and the oldest settlements in North America, 
the tourism industry employs no less than 750,000 Floridians and 
accounts for nearly 25 percent of all of the State's sales tax 
collections. Last year, the United States had 633,000 fewer 
international travelers than we had in the year 2000. Florida has taken 
a harder hit, losing 1.3 million visitors over that same period of 
time.
  Numbers do not lie. Our lack of attention to self-promotion is 
costing us money, jobs, and opportunities. And it is not that people 
are not traveling. The fact is, people are traveling to some 
destinations other than the United States. The world competition for 
the travel dollar is keen. Countries all over the world are doing all 
they can to attract visitors to their countries. We are competing in a 
world marketplace.
  This is an alarming trend we are seeing in the United States, and it 
clearly hurts our economy. But it also has an impact on our image 
around the world. Studies show a person's opinion of our country is 
greatly improved when they visit our country. We are our own best 
ambassadors. But when fewer people visit here, there are fewer 
opportunities for others to see what our Nation has to offer and what 
we are all about. So increased travel to the United States is not only 
good for our Nation, it is also good for the way in which we portray 
ourselves to the world.
  One of the best ways to address this is to create a comprehensive 
campaign to promote the United States as a travel destination. This is 
a way of reversing this current trend. This is a way of bringing back 
some of the declines to a better day so we can increase jobs and 
opportunities in our country.
  Here is an example of what other nations spend to promote themselves 
in the tourism market around the world. Here is what we are competing 
against. This is what the United States is up against as we look to 
compete for the travel dollar. Our close neighbor of Mexico spent $149 
million promoting travel to Mexico. Our other close neighbor, Canada, 
spent $58 million in promoting travel to its country. China spent $60 
million in promoting travel to its country. Australia spent $113 
million. The countries of the European Union collectively spent $800 
million on self-promotion. How much has the United States spent? We 
have spent absolutely nothing. We spend nothing in promoting our 
tourism.
  For years, sectors within the agricultural industry have used so-
called checkoff programs to promote their products. We have heard the 
slogans: ``Pork, the other white meat.'' ``Beef, it's what's for 
dinner.'' ``Milk, it does a body good.'' These are familiar slogans 
created by industry-sponsored campaigns. Producers kick in their own 
money to create a marketing campaign that benefits all producers. We 
need the same thing for our tourism, which is why I urge my colleagues 
to support moving forward on the Travel Promotion Act. It will benefit 
our economy, it will complement our Nation's diplomatic efforts and, 
perhaps most importantly, it will help to create new jobs.
  The Travel Promotion Act will enable the United States to become its 
own ambassador by establishing a public-private campaign to promote 
tourism abroad. The campaign would be led by an independent, not-for-
profit corporation governed by an 11-member board of individuals 
appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. Each would represent the 
various regions around the Nation and bring their expertise in 
promoting international travel. The program will not use taxpayer money 
but will instead rely on user fees paid by foreign tourists and in-kind 
contributions from corporate partners.
  Additionally, the act will increase coordination among the Commerce, 
State, and Homeland Security Departments to streamline the entry and 
departure procedures for our foreign tourists. You see, not only are we 
not promoting ourselves, we are also doing a lot to complicate travel 
to our country. Because of those things which were done as a necessity 
post-9/11, we have created a lot of layers of complication for foreign 
travelers to visit our country. We have to continue to have the kind of 
protection about who visits our land to protect our homeland, but at 
the same time we need to use some common sense about how this is done 
and incorporate some modern technologies to ensure that the travel 
experience to the United States is not cumbersome, is not complicated, 
and that it is transparent and enjoyable for those who come to visit 
us.
  In today's economy, every visitor counts. In the competitive world we 
live in, every competitive dollar that can be spent out there promoting 
travel to the United States will inure to the benefit of the job 
creation we will see in places such as my home State.

[[Page S6621]]

When you consider that visitors from overseas spend an estimated $4,500 
every time they visit the United States, more visitors will mean more 
jobs for Americans at a time when unemployment continues to rise.
  So I truly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill as 
we work toward increasing our Nation's presence as a tourist 
destination around the world. I hope, as the week unfolds, we will have 
an opportunity to engage in conversation and discussion and debate 
about this very important tourism bill, which will help most States of 
this country.
  The fact is we want Florida to be a significant tourism destination. 
We are proud of that in our State, but the fact is that States around 
the country all can benefit and do benefit greatly from foreign 
tourists visiting our country. It is a great, green way of promoting 
jobs and opportunities in our country and one I think is long overdue. 
If we are going to compete effectively with countries abroad, we must, 
in fact, also be competitive in how we promote and advertise ourselves 
to the world.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 
up to 12 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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