So, Whathas Thegovernmentdone Fortravel Andtourismlately?

So, WhatHas theGovernmentDone forTravel andTourismLately?

BY JULIE HEIZER,

DEPUTY DIRECTOR, INDUSTRY RELATIONS

NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM OFFICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Among its other duties, the National Travel and Tourism Office helpsthe administration focus on traveland tourism issues by coordinating,through the Tourism Policy Council, theefforts of several federal agencies. TPCmembers include the departments ofState, Agriculture, Homeland Security,Transportation and Interior, among others.

The United States set a record forinternational visitation in 2014 by welcomingnearly 75 million internationalvisitors—a 7 percent increase over 2013. International travel to the United Statesin 2014 contributed $220.8 billion to thenation’s economy and supported nearly

1.1 million U.S. jobs. When the contributionsfor domestic travel within theUnited States are included in these calculations,travel and tourism become a $1.5trillion industry for the United States,supporting nearly 8 million U.S. jobs.

Chart courtesy of NTA Courier magazine, March 2016

Travel and tourism is big businessand will continue to impact the nation’seconomy.Through the Tourism Policy Council—and with the National Travel andTourism Strategy as its guide—the U.S.government is focused on creating andimplementing policy solutions that create

conditions for real growth in this sector by:

1. Facilitating lawful travel to andwithin the United States,

2. Providing a world-class customerexperience like never before, and

3. Measuring results to ensureprogress.

Creating and implementing policysolutions that will get to the heart ofthese things will help accomplish twoprimary goals of the national strategy:

1. Welcome 100 million internationalvisitors by the end of 2021, and

2. Encourage Americans to see all thisgreat country has to offer.

Only by working together with BrandUSA and the travel and tourism industrywill the U.S. government be successful inimplementing the strategy and ensuringeconomic growth across the nation.In the face of a highly competitiveinternational marketplace, The UnitedStates’ “whole of government” approachhas achieved progress in a number of areas:

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• Easier, lawful travel to the UnitedStates:

• Wait times for visa interviews at keyU.S. embassies and consulates havebeen

drastically reduced in importantmarkets like Brazil and China,dropping from as high

as severalmonths to less than five days.

• Pre-clearance capacity, currentlyin 15 overseas airports, isset to grow, with

Department ofHomeland Security negotiating todevelop this capacity at 10 additional

airports in nine countries.

• The Visa Waiver Program nowincludes 38 countries. Fifty-ninepercent of all overseas

travelersto the United States now originatefrom visa waiver countries.

• Visa validity between the U.S.and China was extended fromone to 10 years for most

leisureand business travel categories.

• World-class customer service mostrecently was improved through the

implementation of Trusted TravelerPrograms like Global Entry, whichallows low-risk

American citizensand lawful permanent residentsexpedited clearance upon arrival

into the United States.

• Improvements to the internationalarrivals process to the U.S., announcedlast year,

seek to provide the bestarrivals experience in the world whilemaintaining the highest

standards ofnational security.

This includes airportspecificaction plans that simplify andstreamline the entry

process at the 17largest international arrivals airportsand improve security by

deployingnew electronic kiosks to speed theentry process, reducing overall baggage-

processing time and improvingsignage, among other things.

• New survey questions will set abenchmark for measuring progress inreaching

excellence in customer service. DHS and Customs and BorderProtection have adapted

periodicsurveys, and NTTO has updated itsSurvey of International Air Travelers.

• Integrated tourism country plans forthe United States’ top 10 markets forarrivals and

spending are being createdin-country by NTTO under theleadership of our Foreign

CommercialService and in partnership with State,DHS, the Foreign Agricultural

Service,Brand USA and Visit USA. Theseplans will ensure the U.S. governmentand

private-sector representativesin country are working togetherto implement the

plans.

This year, tremendous attention willbe focused on the National Park Service’s

100th anniversary. The Department ofInterior is implementing a wide varietyof

special programming this year aroundits “Find Your Park” campaign, and Brand

USA will be premiering its large-formatfilm, “National Parks Adventure,” around

the globe in support of this special celebration. In addition, the movie’s producers,

McGillivray-Freeman Films, will beshowing the film in large-format theatersacross the

country, as well.