Touring the United States

www.EmploymentCrossing.com Today the US House of Representatives passed the "Travel Promotion Act of 2008," which would create thousands of new jobs and spur economic growth nationwide by attracting millions of additional international travelers to the United States. In recent years, foreign tourists have found ever-changing security policies and negative foreign press coverage to be a deterrent to visiting the United States. "We now call on the U.S. Senate to act quickly to reverse the decline in overseas visitation to the United States and utilize the power of travel to strengthen the American economy,” said lobbyist Roger Dow of the Travel Industry Association or TIA. H.R. 3232 establishes a public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier international travel destination and to communicate U.S. security and entry policies. The bill specifies that travel promotion would be provided at no cost to U.S. taxpayers, by private sector contributions and a modest fee on foreign travelers. Two million fewer overseas travelers visited the United States in 2007 than in 2000. The decline in overseas travel since 9/11 has cost America 46 million visitors, $140 billion in lost visitor spending and $23 billion in lost tax revenue, according to the TIA.