In a bid to attract more international visitors to the U.S., President Obama last week signed the Travel Promotion Act into law. The Act creates a new public-private partnership between the government and the travel & tourism industry. This is in response to evidence that that U.S. is loosing ground to other countries in the global travel market. The U.S. welcomed 2.4 million fewer overseas visitors in 2009 than in 2000. This law will mean that the entire nation will be promoted as one rather than any specific desination. It is estimated that the act could entice up to 1.6 million additional tourists to visit America each year. That translates into an estimated $4 billion in economic benefits and 40,000 jobs. The Act is funadamentally about creating jobs and encouraging economic activity. Is that not what is needed here?
1 comment:
We do need that sort of policy in Ireland. It shows that even larger economies are discovering the advantages tourism can play in developing a sustainable domestic industry. Maybe once the government reshuffle is complete they can merege tourism into the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and get on with establishing a similar scheme as the public/private option is very interesting.
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