Policy Issues

ENCOURAGING FOREIGN TOURISM TO THE U.S.

ISSUE

Roundtable is a member of “Visit U.S.” coalition: Tourism, hotel, retail organizations aligned to grow economy and create jobs by boosting foreign travel to U.S.

Robust international travel helps power U.S. commercial real estate markets through tourism dollars directly spent at hospitality, retail, attraction, housing, and investment properties in America.

Position

Roundtable supports efforts for Congress to extend "Brand USA" before it expires in 2020.

Brand USA (BUSA) is a public-private partnership that markets the US as a travel destination to overseas travelers. No taxpayer dollars fund the program. It is funded by fees on travelers visiting the US, with private sector matching funds. BUSA has a 29:1 ROI ratio. For every dollar spent on the problem, $29 come into the U.S. through foreign visitor spending.

Background

From 2015, 2018, global long-haul travel is up. However, the U.S. is losing market share compared to other countries, which are attracting more tourists. China, France, Spain, Canada and numerous other countries are outpacing U.S. travel sector growth. If the US maintained 2015 level of market share, would have gained 7.4 million international visitors; $32.2 billion additional spending; 100K additional US jobs.

The message is important that the U.S. can be most secure and welcoming country to international tourists and the impact foreign inbound travel is a major export that reduces trade imbalance.