A bill that would create a Tourism Promotion Authority is moving slowly through the Senate. It was stymied by procedural problems in the Senate earlier this year, but seems to be making headway through committees and onto the Senate floor. The biggest cheerleader is Senator Harry Reid who represents Las Vegas. He is hoping that getting tourism dollars for Las Vegas will spur his lagging re-election campaign.
But is this a good idea? Granted, the overall idea is good. The problems I see, come in the financing of the proposal. The bill proposes public/private funding. The money will not come from taxes, but from businesses interested in promoting tourism to the U.S.A. plus a $10 fee to be collected from all incoming visitors to the U.S. who do not normally need visas.
Yes, it will add to the coffers of tourism promotion, but it seems that we are collection money to encourage tourism and at the same time discouraging tourism by charging more for visitors to enter our country. It is not a simple cut-and-dried issue. There are many other factors where the government can intercede in order to improve tourism, such as our onerous border and customs procedures (but that is another story).
The good news is that Congress is beginning to realize that tourism is a big money-maker for the U.S. economy. The bad news is that the U.S. doesn’t seem interested in investing its own funds in money-making opportunities, but would rather soak the visitors to pay for luring more overseas visitors. It seems that Congress is slipping into the mode of local governments who slap parking ticket fees, convention fees etc. onto rental car charges. They do it to raise revenues and because the visitors can’t fight back.
I’m sure that if Canadians are charged $10 every time they enter the U.S. they will change their habits. Plus, if the U.S. adds $10 to Canadians visiting us, how long will it take the Canadians to add $10 to our expenses for traveling the Canada?
Democratic lawmakers have said the bill would help create thousands of jobs and save the U.S. taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars because of increased revenues stemming from greater tourist spending. I’m not sure this has been thought through. The lure of raking in hundreds of millions in additional tourism spending has clouded the vision of Congress. It might be good for tourism stakeholders by leveraging their promotion funds, but it seems questionable for the country.
Maybe health care issues will derail the bill, but with Reid trying to push for votes from tourism-hungry Las Vegas businesses, my betting is on this bill seeing the light of day. Whether it is a good deal, is another story.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
