Travel Promotion Act and Meeting Planners
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 Act will reduce the the United States budget deficit over the next decades by $425 million. At the same time, it will increase jobs, stimulate the economy, and benefit our tourism reputation. But, what is the cost to 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 create millions of dollars each year to stimulate the U.S. economy and quite a lot of those millions could end up in the travel industry. It could bring to our shores thousands of new jobs and perhaps ease some of the damage done when the guidelines for bailout companies were issued.
Lets hope this bill is implemented rapidly and receives the support it deserves with travel industry personnel. After all, the job they save may be your own.