President Obama Announces First National Strategy on Travel, Tourism

When it comes to increasing travel — and, by extension — travel employment: We can't wait. That was the message yesterday at Walt Disney World in Orlando, where President Barack Obama announced the United States' first-ever national strategy on travel and tourism.

Speaking in front of Disney's iconic Cinderella Castle, the president said yesterday that he will sign an executive order and implement several new initiatives designed to "significantly increase" travel and tourism in the United States.

"Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come and visit America," President Obama said. "And the more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. We need to help businesses all across the country grow and create jobs; compete and win. That's how we’re going to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded and where anyone can make it if they try."

According to the White House, U.S. tourism and travel industry is a "substantial component" of U.S. GDP and employment, representing 2.7 percent of GDP and 7.5 million jobs in 2010 — with international travel to the United States supporting 1.2 million jobs alone. Further, it pointed out, the travel and tourism industry projects that more than 1 million American jobs could be created over the next decade if the United States increased its share of the international travel market.

"According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel resulted in $134 billion in U.S. exports in 2010 and is the nation's largest service export industry, with 7 percent of total exports and 24 percent of service exports," the White House said in a statement. "The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that every additional 65 international visitors to the United States can generate enough exports to support an additional travel and tourism-related job. According to the travel industry and Bureau of Economic Analysis, international travel is particularly important as overseas or 'long-haul' travelers spend on average $4,000 on each visit."

Of particular importance to the U.S. travel industry, the president noted, are emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India, the number of travelers from which is expected to grow by 135 percent, 274 percent and 50 percent, respectively, by 2016.

"Nationals from these three countries contributed approximately $15 billion dollars and thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy in 2010," the White House continued. "In addition, Chinese and Brazilian tourists currently spend more than $6,000 and $5,000, respectively, each, per trip, according to the Department of Commerce."

Executive Order

To stimulate travel to and within the United States, the president's executive order charges several agencies to take part in efforts to increase tourism:

• The Departments of Commerce and the Interior will co-lead an interagency task force to develop recommendations for a National Travel & Tourism Strategy, to be executed in collaboration with BrandUSA. A particular focus of the task force will be on strategies for increasing tourism and recreation jobs by promoting visits to national treasures, including national parks, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites, monuments and other public lands that attract travelers.

• The Departments of State and Homeland Security will be charged with increasing non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012, ensuring that 80 percent of non-immigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of application, expanding the Visa Waiver Program and travel by tourists who are eligible to participate in it, and expanding reciprocal trusted travel programs for expedited travel, such as the Global Entry program.

• The Department of Commerce will be charged with establishing and maintaining a publicly available website with key information and statistics from across the federal government to assist industry and travelers in understanding visa processes in key travel and tourism markets, and entry times into the United States.

Other Initiatives

In addition to his executive order, President Obama announced the following initiatives within his administration:

• The Departments of State and Homeland Security have announced a new pilot program to simplify and speed up the non-immigrant visa process for some very low-risk applicants in China and Brazil.

• Through a final rule, the Obama administration will expand and make the Global Entry program — created as a pilot in 2008 to facilitate expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States — permanent. There are currently 131 Global Entry kiosks at 20 airports; this final rule will allow the program to be expanded to an additional four airports in Minneapolis, Charlotte, Denver and Phoenix.

• Commerce Secretary John Bryson has appointed 32 private sector CEOs to serve on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which will build upon the work undertaken by the past board addressing travel facilitation, visa policy, improving the international travel entry experience, aviation security, energy security, crisis communications and research and data, among other issues.

• The Secretary of State has formally requested that the Secretary of Homeland Security consider Taiwan for inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program, which allows eligible travelers from participating nations to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

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