Congress gives U.S. travel industry a win

The U.S. travel industry scored a major victory when the Senate passed legislation that could direct hundreds of millions annually to attract foreign visitors.

The legislation overwhelmingly passed the Senate on Thursday, 78-18. It was approved in the House last fall and now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk for his signature. A number of travel-related trade associations, such as the U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association, lobbied heavily for the bill.

{mosads}Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said Friday it was a “historic vote.”

“This is a great day for the travel community,” Dow said on a conference call with reporters.

The legislation creates a nonprofit corporation with the mission of attracting more foreign visitors to the United States through ad campaigns and assisting tourists with travel problems. It will be funded with $100 million in contributions from the private sector every year as well as a $10 entry fee for foreign travelers from 35 countries, mostly from Europe, in the visa waiver program that will bring in an estimated revenue of another $100 million per year.

Travel groups see the new corporation as key in providing a tourism boost to the United States. While travel to America has begun to lag behind the rest of the world, the bill should help attract 1.6 million additional visitors and $4 billion in new consumer spending annually, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

But much remains to be done before the corporation can get up and running. An 11-member board to oversee the corporation needs to be filled out, and the Homeland Security Department needs to institute the entry fee.

Geoffrey Freeman, senior vice president of public affairs for the U.S. Travel Association, said he has heard “positive things” from the Obama administration on picking the corporation’s board members soon. He also expects the entry fee will be in place within a year at the latest.

“Once that fee is in place, and the first $10 million from the fee is transferred to the corporation, then the corporation can hire its executive director and its staff and come up with a marketing strategy that puts us on par with the rest of international community,” Freeman said.

The travel trade association is working on a strategic plan for how best to utilize the corporation. The group will present the plan to the Commerce Department in the near future.