Travel Act will raise the profile of tourism promotion

The Visit USA Association has welcomed the impending Travel Promotion Act, which will be an early priority for the US Senate when it resumes the business of legislation following its August recess.

The act will create a non-profit corporation – as yet unnamed – that will be charged with ‘better communicating America’s travel policies and promoting the United States as a premier travel destination’.

“When the act is passed it should become a very major benefit to all organisations involved in the UK-USA travel market,” said Kate Burgesss-Craddy, Visit USA’s new Chair.

“Visit USA will be seeking a very active involvement with the new organisation to ensure that future marketing campaigns relate directly to the needs of the local markets, such as the UK."

However Burgesss-Craddy warned that plans for the new programme to be funded mainly by a $10 fee on non-visa travellers will inevitably attract criticism. 

The $10 tariff, effectively a tax on tourists, will be an effective revenue earner in the UK as most holidaymakers to the US qualify under the Visa Waiver Programme and ESTA arrangements.

Burgess-Craddock commented: “Whilst all major destinations have found a variety of ways of taxing tourism, the Travel Promotion Act proposal uses an ESTA-linked fee and this, effectively, means that international visitors to the USA will be directly funding the advertising and promotions that urges them to travel to the USA. This will undoubtedly lead to a negative reaction."

The US is currently one of few developed nations that currently does not operate a multi-million dollar promotion programme to attract foreign visitors.

Overseas travelers spend an average of $4,500 per person per visit.