USA – Barack Obama has signed a bill into law on 4 March aimed at boosting international business and leisure travel to the United States.
The Travel Promotion Act calls for creating an 11-member board to develop and implement a global marketing campaign and educate international travellers about the visa application process. Unlike many other nations, the US has never had a national travel promotion board.
The new law aims to reverse the downward slide of global travel to the States. In 2009, the country drew 2.4 million fewer visitors from overseas than in 2000, a hit to the US economy of roughly $509bn in total spending, and $32bn in direct tax receipts, according to the US Travel Association, which lobbied for passage of the legislation.
UK-based consulting firm Oxford Economics estimates the initiative could draw nearly 1.6 million new visitors each year to the US and generate 40,000 jobs. The initiative will be funded through private-sector contribution and a $10 fee on travellers every two years from nations that don’t currently require a $131 visa to visit the country.
The fee will first be collected in the second half of 2010.
