 
Washington Report
Wicker Says Travel Bill Will Increase
Tourism, Grow Economy
Budget Neutral Act
Encourages Foreigners to Visit U.S.
From: Sen. Roger Wicker
filed 7/1/09 GCN
Every year, thousands of visitors
come to Mississippi to take in the many great attractions and outdoor
opportunities our state has to offer. Our musical heritage, our historic
battlefields, and our world-class entertainment and parks offer wonderful
opportunities to attract visitors. Travelers from all over the country
and around the world have come to realize what Mississippians have long
known: there is a whole lot happening in Mississippi, and it is a great
place to live and visit.
We are glad to welcome visitors to our state because the money they spend
here helps create jobs and economic opportunity. The tourism industry is
the sixth largest employer in Mississippi. Tourism in our state accounted
for more than 115,000 direct and indirect jobs last year, with an annual
payroll of just over $2.5 billion. To help grow our economy now and into
the future, we must continue promoting Mississippi’s attractions to
travelers here in the U.S. and abroad.
TRAVEL PROMOTION ACT
The Mississippi Development Authority and other state agencies do a very
good job of selling Mississippi as a great place to visit and do
business. Their efforts have helped grow our state’s tourism industry and
have brought new jobs to Mississippi. To bolster their efforts and those
of other states across the country, it is important to step up our efforts
at marketing the U.S. to travelers from abroad. The Senate began debating
a bill last week to do just that.
The purpose of the Travel Promotion Act – legislation I cosponsored – is
to help increase travel to the U.S. by foreign tourists. The bill
establishes a public-private partnership to promote the U.S. as a travel
destination in other countries. This initiative would be jointly managed
by the government and the private sector, and would be paid for by
contributions from the tourism industry and a $10 fee on certain foreign
travelers. The bill would cost U.S. taxpayers nothing. In fact, as a
result of the revenue generated from the expected increase in foreign
visitors, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has stated that the
Travel Promotion Act will actually reduce the federal budget deficit by
$425 million over the next 10 years.
LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD
This effort is needed for the U.S. to remain a competitive tourist
destination for international travelers. Nearly every other developed
nation in the world has a nationally coordinated travel promotion campaign
to attract international visitors, and it appears that those efforts have
put us at a disadvantage. International travel is booming, with 48
million more overseas trips booked worldwide in 2008 than in 2000.
Unfortunately, the U.S. has not participated in this travel boom,
welcoming 633,000 fewer overseas visitors in 2008 than in 2000 and
remaining below pre-September 11, 2001 levels of foreign visitors for the
seventh consecutive year.
As we continue working to get our economy back on track, the effort to
attract more international travelers is definitely worth our while.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, overseas visitors spend an
average of $4,500 per person, per trip when visiting our country. Oxford
Economics, an international economic consulting firm, estimates that a
well-executed promotion campaign – similar to what would be created by the
Travel Promotion Act – would attract 1.6 million new international
visitors annually, generate $4 billion in new visitor spending, and
generate $321 million in new federal tax revenue.
MORE JOBS, MORE REVENUE
Twenty-six years ago, President Reagan said: “Experiencing America
firsthand provides outstanding educational opportunities and is terrific
for personal growth. And where in the world is there a more beautiful
place to travel, have fun, and relax than in America?” I could not agree
more, and believe the same could be said about experiencing travel in
Mississippi.
Tourism is a great engine of economic growth here in Mississippi and
across America. As a nation, we should be looking for ways to open the
door to more foreign tourists. Doing so will create more jobs here at
home and help fill state and federal coffers with revenue from abroad.
The Travel Promotion Act is a common sense way to help achieve this goal.
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