The Innkeeping Blog

You may recall, I spent some time in Washington DC a few months back, lobbying for the passage of the Travel Promotion Act.

The one-line summary of the bill (on the US Senate web site) is: "A bill to establish a non-profit corporation to communicate United States entry policies and otherwise promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States."

The international visitor is an important customer in our industry. Most innkeepers I encounter say they welcome many international visitors. Visits to the US are below what we saw in 2000, and this has a great impact on our economy – especially the micro-economy of the travel industry.

Click here for a very compelling list of reasons why this bill is a good thing. Best estimates reveal that this legislation will help reduce the deficit, which is likely why it received such strong bipartisan support. Here is a list of the 79 Senators who voted in favor, the 19 who voted against, and the one who didn't vote.

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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.

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