The Stevens provision calls for the creation of the United States Travel and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board, to be appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. TIA has long argued for the need to create a sustained, unified campaign to effectively promote the U.S. in key inbound markets around the world. A unified campaign would enable the 95 percent of U.S. travel and tourism organizations that officially qualify as small businesses to leverage their limited resources to accomplish collectively what no single organization can do on its own.

�TIA is delighted that Congress recognizes the value of investing in inbound tourism and we feel that this amendment is an important first step in creating a multi-year sustained coordinated national campaign to promote the U.S. internationally,� said William S. Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America.

For a number of years following the 1995 White House Conference on Travel and Tourism TIA has laid the groundwork for the introduction of legislation to establish a long-term privately managed, public-private partnership to promote the United States as the world�s leading travel destination. A program to brand, position and promote the USA was launched that has blossomed today into a national brand, SeeAmerica, and a national consumer web site, SeeAmerica.org. An infrastructure of staff in Washington DC, London, Tokyo and Sao Paulo was established and a wide range of research, communications and cooperative marketing, advertising and promotional initiatives were created that have engaged hundreds of industry partners. These private sector efforts are designed to counter stiff government-funded competition from abroad and prove what the industry can accomplish with limited resources. A partnership with the federal government will be necessary to be fully competitive.

�Without a national promotion campaign, we cannot reasonably expect to reverse the 30 percent decline in market share that the U.S. has suffered since 1992 and the $154 Billion in revenues and 230,000 American jobs that have been lost,� said current TIA National Chair John Marks, President and CEO of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. �Travel and tourism is 6.0 percent of U.S. non-farm employment, yet it has suffered a staggering 29.7 percent of total job losses since 9/11. It will take a sustained, coordinated effort to climb out of this hole,� Marks continued.

The concept of investing in a public-private partnership to create jobs and grow tax receipts by increasing international travel to America has been endorsed by the Southern Governors� Association, Western Governors� Association, National Council of State Tourism Directors and the National Council of Destination Organizations, as well as countless other industry organizations.

TIA and its members look forward to working with the Secretary of Commerce to launch the effort to encourage more international visitors to See America and with Congress to put a multi-year program in place to carry on this important work.

Travel Industry Association of America
TIA (www.tia.org) is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $537 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to represent the whole of the U.S. travel industry to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.

Contact:
Cathy Keefe (Manager, Media Relations)
202-408-8422
ckeefe@tia.org , www.tia.org