Group to Ask U.S. for a National Tourism Body

Tourism industry leaders plan to ask for a national organization to sell the United States as a destination to international travelers.

Travel Industry Assn. President and Chief Executive William Norman plans to argue in a speech today that a national marketing corporation would go a long way toward restoring the weak international market that has slowed the U.S. tourism industry’s recovery, according to an advance copy of the speech.

The U.S. is the only major industrialized nation in the world whose government doesn’t directly spend money on marketing tourism abroad.

Leaders of the nation’s $546-billion tourism industry plan to ask Congress this fall to create a national tourism marketing corporation, according to Norman. International travel to the U.S. is a $103-billion market annually.

International travelers are seen by many as the key to growth for the U.S. tourism industry because the domestic market is considered mature. International travelers also spend more money and have more time to spend on vacation than do their American counterparts.

Popular tourist destinations, such as Orlando and Las Vegas, must rely on their own campaigns and the efforts of state tourism offices to market to international travelers. A national organization would let U.S. destinations compete in international markets they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to reach on their own, according to Norman.

The tourism slowdown after the Sept. 11 attacks worsened what already had been softening tourism demand last year. The travel industry is recovering slowly, but the international and business travel segments have been the weakest areas, according to the Travel Industry Assn.

International airplane passenger traffic to the U.S. is down 12% for the year and international arrivals to the U.S. declined by 11% last year. Pleasure travel in the U.S. this summer, though, was expected to increase by 2% over last summer.