Action Alert to Innkeeping Industry – Help Pass Travel Promotion Act Now!
Written by Jay Karen on September 17, 2009 – 9:51 pm
With Roger Dow, CEO of the US Travel Association
I’m wrapping up my day here in the nation’s capital, after having joined my colleagues from the travel industry in visiting several members of Congress and their staff. Our primary purpose in being in DC is to urge the passage of House Resolution 2935, also known as the Travel Promotion Act. If passed, the TPA would essentially create America’s first “destination marketing organization” that would exclusively work to bring more international travelers to the United States.
A new, stand-alone non-profit organization, called the Corporation for Travel Promotion, would be created and would manage the activities of tourism promotion. The board would be made up of representatives from various sectors of the travel industry. The Senate version of the bill passed last week with a vote of 79-19, demonstrating unusually high bi-partisan support. The lead sponsors in the House are Delahunt (D) from MA, and Blunt (R) from MO. There are currently 82 co-sponsors from both sides of the isle.
You can read all about the bill in detail here.
Why is this necessary? First of all, international travel to the US is down sharply. We have fewer international tourists visiting the US today than we did in 2001. Overseas visitors spend on average $4,500 per visit. Also, we’re the only nation in our competitive set (think Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc) that spends zero dollars on promoting our country as a great place to visit. Opponents to the bill believe the product should sell itself, or that entities in the private sector should shoulder the burden of promoting America. Oxford Economics estimates that “a well-executed promotion program, as outlined in the TPA, would attract 1.6 million new international visitors annually, create $4 billion in new spending and drive $321 million in new federal tax revenue.” The Congressional Budget Office says the bill “will reduce the deficit by $425 million over the next 10 years.” Talk about an economic stimulus bill!
One of the big reasons, I believe, the bill is getting so much support is that it is “deficit-neutral.” The American taxpayers will not be footing the bill for this. The law would ascribe a $10 fee to incoming visitors from countries participating in the visa waiver program (look here for a list), and the fee would cover multiple visits over a 2-year period. Someone ultimately has to pay for the efforts, and a minor fee paid by millions of non-resident travelers (who are likely not going to balk at the fee) is not a bad solution.
So, what can members of the B&B community do to help ensure the bill’s passage?
- Contact your elected officials in the House of Representatives. Here’s a link that will help you find their information. While this page will allow you to email your elected officials, it is better to call them or send them a written letter, demonstrating your support of the TPA. Outline the reasons it is a good piece of legislation, and ask for their vote and co-sponsorship of the bill. Be sure to mention the impact of travel in your state – members of the House will be more apt to listen and respond, if they know how a bill will impact their home turf. Click here to find out the economic impact of travel in your state.
- Before you reach out, make sure you know your facts. Read more about the issue by clicking here.
I was one of 300 travel industry leaders here in Washington DC meeting with legislators, pressing for the bill’s success. While you might not be able to come to DC to do the same, I still urge you to reach out and let them know how important the travel industry is and that we could use a boost. And – it’s about time America steps up and starts actively promoting the assets we have!
It’s likely this bill could be debated in the House in a matter of days. So, please take a few minutes now and become an activist for the B&B industry. Every stakeholder in our industry – innkeepers, aspiring innkeepers and vendors alike – could benefit from a healthier amount of in-bound traffic. After all, we know that international folks love B&Bs!
Thanks for your support and action.
Long day of lobbying ahead of me. It was good our industry was represented today.
Tags: Travel, Travel Promotion Act
Posted in Travel Industry, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
Jay Karen, President & CEO of the
September 18, 2009 at 5:39 am...
Wonderful article, Jay, and congratulations on the job you are doing for our industry.
We look forward to having you address the Mid Atlantic Innkeepers in January!
September 18, 2009 at 6:34 am...
Having a professional association to ensure that our industry is represented in these initiatives is so important. Jay, you and PAII are not only doing a great job but a very important one. Thank you for explaining the bill and making it so easy for everyone to contact their elected representatives today.
September 18, 2009 at 9:56 am...
This is a wonderful aim for the B&B industry and I hope the bill passes. With the economy still much in need of help, the smaller lodging places in particular need all the extra help they can get. So glad PAII has gotten involved and is helping this initiative.
September 19, 2009 at 1:55 pm...
If you travel abroad, you will find this is one hot topic of conversation – “Once again, the arrogant Americans are imposing a cost on foreigners traveling to the US to visit”.
They are fed up with the approach taken by the Americans that continues to be “do what I say, not what I do!”.
The best prescription for a reduction in travel to the US by those living abroad will be to impose this “tax” on them. They will cease considering the US as a destination and the number of travelers will decline, not increase.
Once the tax is in place it will never go away, it will only increase (remember the 1900’s telephone tax?). The law of economics is at work in the world and it is not a necessity for those living abroad to visit the US.
Think about your own personal situation and your attitude if a tax/fee were instituted at the location of your primary travel interest. What would you do? Think about it twice? Most likely – and when you add up the number of foreign visitors, it will have an impact on the industry.
By the way, if the number of foreign based tourists traveling in the US has declined since prior to 9/11, who is the idiot that thinks adding a $10/person tax/fee to their travel will suddenly change their economic behavior and cause them to increase their travel to the US?
September 21, 2009 at 10:48 am...
Jay – I preparing a letter to our Virginia Senators and my Congressman (Goodlatte) but need a clarification first, please. (1)How and from whom will the required “public sector matching funds” be collected and (2)How and from whom will be the not-to-exceed $20 million “industry assessment” be levied? I’ll follow your blog for the answer. Many thanks.
September 22, 2009 at 7:49 pm...
Totally agree with Larry’s comments of 19 Sept 09 and have expressed my dislike of taking a “$10 chip” from every visitor to the USA specifically to Jay the first time this ” illicit thought ” came to us several months ago.
If vast numbers of people stay away from those locales which presently charge excessive fees and charges, one can only imagine why our number of visitors shall decrease.
As formally expressed to Jay, we need better development of our base, before we seek to expand at the International level.
My thought is still focused on the little guy who uses his ” own
dollars ” and not on some Nationalistic approach where legislatively
our ” gold rush ” of dollars will be because in order to get off of the airplane, boat, taxi, et al, visitors must pay the Golden Goose this additional one ten spot tomorrow, and on and on, and on and on ……………….!
Think back a bit with me and I firmly believe that my great-grandparents may have chosen a different location to seek their fortune in this chaotic world of ours.
to improve things
September 23, 2009 at 8:13 am...
Janice,
The US Travel Association passed this along:
(1) The legislation establishes a Travel Promotion Fund at the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury will transfer not more than $100 million into the Fund collected from a $10 user fee paid by foreign travelers (every two years) entering the U.S. from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries. These are the travelers that do not have to spend the time and $131 to receive a visa. The fee will be paid through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which was authorized by the Department of Homeland Security in 2007 to determine the eligibility of VWP visitors to travel to the U.S.
(2) The legislation gives the Corporation of Travel Promotion the authority to conduct a referendum to determine if the travel industry is interested in imposing an annual assessment on itself to help collect private sector funds. There is a $20m limit on assessment. The Senate bill calls for a referendum, as represented by the Board; the House bill allows the Corporation to determine which industry segments will be included in the initial referendum, what the target assessment level will be, the percent of funds to be levied against each industry category and segment (based on the benefits they bring in), and the assessment methodology and rate of assessment. This language will need to be reconciled in the final bill.
September 23, 2009 at 9:30 am...
Apparently, Larry and Bill, we’ll have to remain at odds on this.
I don’t believe anti-American sentiment, as Larry mentions, will rise due to a new $10 fee that covers two years’ of travel to the US. I think any assertion that “Oh boy, here we go with fees…this is just the beginning of the end,” is hyperbolic. What, Larry, do you mean by “Once again…” we are imposing fees on travelers and “do as I say, not as I do”? Americans certainly pay fees to foreign countries when we travel. They’re just baked into airline fees every time we fly (according to my sources at the US Travel Association who have done an extensive analysis of what other countries do).
What essentially is a $5/year fee is miniscule compared to what most EU countries charge visitors every single time they fly out of a European country. An American flying out of London has to pay nearly $70 in a coach seat and $130 in a premium seat every time he or she flies. These fees are turned over to the government, part of which is spent on tourism promotion for the UK. The US is just being more transparent about what our fee is to fund. We’re not hiding it in excessive airline taxes.
These travelers paying the $10 every two years would be citizens of countries that are currently exempt from the $131 visa fee. I don’t think anyone is going to bag their plans to travel to the US because of a $10 bi-annual fee. OK, so let’s suppose 1% of inbound travelers decide to bag their plans specifically because of the new “prohibitive” fee. The question is, will funds received from the 99% of others paying the $10 fee and the resulting marketing efforts to get more travelers to the US help make up for that 1% loss and then some? Well, about 80% of the members of the US Senate think so. The travel industry leadership seem to think so too. I don’t think the travel industry would be pressing for this if they thought it would ultimately hurt inbound travel. Seems counterintuitive to me.
Larry is encouraging me to think of my own situation, and if I would be hesitant to travel to a place of primary interest if there was a fee like this $5/year fee. If my wife and I were interested in traveling to India, and I had to pay $10 per person, I wouldn’t balk at it, and I think most people who travel beyond our borders wouldn’t change their plans either. There is a difference between what Bill is calling “excessive fees” and what I believe is a nominal fee. Bill indicates that there are places to which people are not traveling due to excessive fees, and that it would happen in the US too. What places are you referring to? What countries are suffering from a drop in international visitors due specifically to excessive fees on travelers?
International visitors are very important to the American economy, and more specifically to the travel and hospitality industry, which I happen to represent. When the needle starts moving in the wrong direction, I’m a supporter of doing something about it. I believe the Travel Promotion Act is a sound solution that does not place any burden on travelers that would cause them to stop coming to the US. And as I’ve challenged Bill in previous emails – if you believe this is a bad idea, what would be your SPECIFIC alternative ideas to get the needle moving in the right direction? It’s certainly more helpful to provide ideas than just criticism.
October 28, 2009 at 7:15 pm...
2 things, first of all I am about to leave on a trip to New Zealand. If I found out that they were going to charge me $10.00 to get into the country, well, I would pay it in a heartbeat, not even give it a second thought and get on the plane. All countries do this in one way or another, and if you think I am going to pass on a trip of a lifetime because of a $10.00 fee. Well no way no how. If I cannot afford the $10 then I surely cannot afford to go on this trip at all.
Second, we have a LOT of international visitors to our Inn, German, UK, Italian, and this year more Spaniards than ever. This traffic is on the upswing. It was on the downswing, during the last administration when so many US policies were frowned upon (to use a nice word) by the rest of the world, when after 9/11 restrictions to get in to the US were seen as over the top (my guest’s impressions, not necessarily my own). We have a lot to offer our international visitors (have you seen the latest PBS series on our National Parks) and we are one of the few countries that does not market ourselves abroad to other countries. Guests are coming now, I would like to see the US invest a bit in marketing ourselves and I know my numbers will go up and not down.
FYI, I took 2 lengthy bookings today for summer 2010 from Europeans planning their 30 day trips to the US this summer. Remember these countries have lots more vacation time than we do and I for one am thankful that many of them choose to use it coming here.
This is a bill that should pass. It is a win for the travel industry and I believe for my Inn.
February 28, 2010 at 3:19 pm...
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