President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) Geoff Freeman has released a reaction to the federal government’s passage of an omnibus spending bill to support the still-recovering tourism industry.
The new federal funding legislation, which Congress passed late-night on December 19, encompasses both the ‘Visit America Act’, and ‘Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act’. The combined acts include provisions for the creation of a brand-new, federal-level position of ‘Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism’ within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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To date, the United States is the world’s only G20 nation that conspicuously doesn’t have a cabinet-level official or a federal agency dedicated to overseeing the country’s tourism policies and strategy.
The Visit America Act aims to “address the declining percentage of international visitors to the United States”, while the Omnibus Travel and Tourism Act is intended to, “support the U.S. travel and tourism industry with a specific focus on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“This is a tremendous win for travelers, the travel industry and America’s economy,” Freeman said in today’s statement. “The idea to create a presidentially appointed, U.S. Senate-confirmed position to lead federal travel policy has been around for decades. Thanks to a bipartisan and bicameral group of congressional leaders, the United States will now join all G20 countries with a senior federal official focused on travel.
He continued, “The Assistant Secretary will play an important role as we partner with government to lower visitor visa wait times, modernize security screening and leverage new technologies to make travel more seamless and secure.”
Details of the combined acts not only establish the role of Assistant Secretary, but specify his/her functions, which will include setting goals for the number of international visitors to the U.S., providing support for improved visitor visa processing and overseas promotion of the nation’s travel exports, among other responsibilities.
Furthermore, the new legislation also grants statutory authority for the ‘United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board’ and directs it to aid the Assistant Secretary in developing and implementing a COVID-19 recovery strategy for the tourism sector.
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