Travel Promotion Act and Meeting Planners
July 18th, 2009 by Carrie Plescan, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Even though the government guidelines for bailout companies have hurt the travel industry recently, the new (June, 2009), bill S. 1023 holds promise that there will be help in the offing for the travel industry overall. This will eventually help the meeting planner market. Here is how it will work.
The Travel Promotion Act will contribute $425 million towards reducing the United States budget deficit over the next 10 years. It has been developed to increase jobs, stimulate the economy, and increase our tourism reputation. But, how much will it cost U.S. taxpayers? Zero.
S. 1023 will be paid for by a combination of contributions from private sources, plus a $10 charge for all foreign non-visa travelers to the U.S. Despite the challenges of an ongoing conflict between Republicans and Democrats, this bill has been popular in both camps.
While having the cost shouldered by a small fee to foreign visitors is attractive, the best benefit of the bill is that it will help increase the amount of foreign travel and create partnerships between agencies, countries, and people in the travel industry, including meeting planners who book foreign travel and U.S. meetings that draw participants from all over the world.
This bill has the potential to contribute millions of dollars each year to stimulate the U.S. economy and a lot of those dollars should end up in the travel industry. It will help to create thousands of new jobs and help to ease some of the damage done when the guidelines for bailout companies were issued.
Lets all hope this bill is implemented quickly and receives the support it deserves among travel industry personnel. After all, the job that is saved may be your own.
