Green light for new US tourism promotion body

New legislation could see the USA spending up to $200 million a year on tourism promotion to reverse its recent loss of world market share.

Sara Macefield

The USA is back in business and a new American revolution is brewing as the country prepares to win back its place on the global tourism stage. Millions of dollars are due to be channelled into promoting the country to an international audience after a long drought of promotional funding. Officials aim to reverse the USA’s falling share of the global tourism market, which dropped from 9.4% in 1994 to 6% in 2009. Such a ground-breaking change is being made possible by the Travel Promotion Act which could eventually channel up to $200 million a year into the country’s tourism marketing coffers. A new tourism promotion body will be set up to take charge of marketing the USA to the world.

Travel Industry Association president Roger Dow hailed it as the biggest event to affect the US travel industry in the last 25 years, claiming that it would transform the way America promotes itself on the world stage. “The long term is going to be very positive‚” he said. “The Act means we can co-ordinate activities and industry policies and promote lesser-known locations in the USA to travellers. “At ITB it means the USA pavilion will be bigger and grander as we will have the money to do more. We can bring more buyers to Pow Wow and generally enhance existing things that we do.” Under the new law, the controversial $10 charge for the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, which has to be completed by travellers to the USA, will be used for promotion. Up to $100 million will be designated for this, but only on condition that the private sector matches it. Dow was optimistic that once the scheme was up and running America’s tourism fortunes would dramatically change. “I think we could see another three million visitors a year from 2012‚” he confidently predicted. “And if the economy changes, it could be even more.”