U.S. President Barack Obama signs into law first-ever national Travel Promotion and communications programme

The travel community celebrated a major victory recently when Barack Obama, President, United States signed into law the first-ever national Travel Promotion Act and communications programme to attract more international travellers to the U.S. The historic moment, commemorated during a White House signing ceremony, is a major step in addressing America’s decline in attracting overseas visitors to the U.S. during the past decade.

The Act is in response to evidence that the U.S. has been losing ground to other countries in the global travel market. The U.S. welcomed 2.4 million overseas visitors in 2009, less than in 2000, and the failure to keep pace with the growth in international long-haul travel since 2000 has costed the U.S. economy an estimated USD 509 billion in total spending and USD 32 billion in direct tax receipts, according to the U.S. Travel Association (USTA). The Travel Promotion Act will counteract this trend by creating a campaign to promote the United States as a premier destination and explain changing travel security policies to foreign visitors.