January 19, 2012 - This
morning, President Obama will sign an Executive Order and announce new
initiatives to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United
States.
The U.S. tourism and travel industry is a substantial component of U.S.
GDP and
employment, representing 2.7% of GDP and 7.5 million jobs in 2010 -
with
international travel to the United States supporting 1.2 million jobs
alone.
The travel and tourism industry projects that more than 1 million
American jobs
could be created over the next decade if the U.S. increased its share
of the
international travel market. Today’s announcement offers important
steps to
bolster job creation through a range of steps to better promote the
United
States as a tourism destination and improve secure visa processing.
This is the
most recent of a series of executive actions the President has
announced to put
Americans back to work and strengthen the U.S. economy.
“Every year, tens of millions of tourists from all over the world come
and
visit America. And the more folks who visit America, the more Americans
we get
back to work. We need to help businesses all across the country grow
and create
jobs; compete and win. That’s how we’re going to rebuild an economy
where hard
work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded, and where anyone can
make it
if they try,” said President Obama.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel
resulted in $134 billion in U.S. exports in 2010 and is the nation’s
largest
service export industry, with 7% of total exports and 24% of service
exports.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that every additional 65
international visitors to the United States can generate enough exports
to
support an additional travel and tourism-related job. According to the
travel
industry and Bureau of Economic Analysis, international travel is
particularly
important as overseas or “long-haul” travelers spend on average $4,000
on each
visit.
Today’s announcement calls for a national strategy to make the United
States
the world’s top travel and tourism destination, as part of a
comprehensive
effort to spur job creation. The number of travelers from emerging
economies
with growing middle classes - such as China, Brazil, and India - is
projected
to grow by 135%, 274%, and 50% respectively by 2016 when compared to
2010.
Nationals from these three countries contributed approximately $15
billion
dollars and thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy in 2010. In addition,
Chinese
and Brazilian tourists currently spend more than $6,000 and $5,000
respectively
each, per trip, according to the Department of Commerce. The Department
of
State has made tremendous progress in processing non-immigrant visas
from these
key markets, allowing them to issue more than 7.5 million visas in the
last
fiscal year, a 17% increase from the previous fiscal year. In the 2011
fiscal
year, consular officers adjudicated more than a million visa
applications in
China and more than 800,000 in Brazil, representing 34 % growth in
China and
42% growth in Brazil. Improving visa processing capacity for China and
Brazil
is particularly important because of this growth.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
Today’s Executive Order charges several agencies to take part in
efforts to
increase travel and tourism in the United States:
- The Secretaries of Commerce and
the Interior will be charged with:
- Co-leading an interagency task
force to develop recommendations for a National Travel & Tourism
Strategy to promote domestic and international travel opportunities
throughout the United States, thereby expanding job creation. This Task
Force will coordinate with the Corporation for Travel Promotion
(currently doing business as BrandUSA), a non-profit corporation
established by Congress through the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 to
promote travel to the United States, and the Tourism Policy Council to
ensure private sector participation and cross-agency coordination.
- A particular focus of the Task
Force will be on strategies for increasing tourism and recreation jobs
by promoting visits to our national treasures. The Department of the
Interior manages iconic destinations in our national parks, wildlife
refuges, cultural and historic sites, monuments and other public lands
that attract travelers from around the country and the globe. In 2010,
more than 400 million visits were made by American and international
travelers to these lands, contributing nearly $50 billion in economic
activity and 400,000 jobs. Eco-tourism and outdoor recreation also have
an outsize impact on rural economies, particularly in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and
Wyoming.
- The Department of State and the
Department of Homeland Security will be charged with:
- Increasing non-immigrant visa
processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40% in 2012.
- Ensuring that 80% of
non-immigrant visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of
receipt of application.
- Increasing efforts to expand
the Visa Waiver Program and travel by nationals eligible to participate
in the Visa Waiver Program, and expanding reciprocal trusted travel
programs for expedited travel (such as the Global Entry program).
- The Department of Commerce will
be charged with:
- Establishing and maintaining a
publicly available website with key information and statistics from
across the Federal Government to assist industry and travelers in
understanding visa processes in key travel and tourism markets, and
entry times into the United States.
Additional initiatives announced today include:
- New Pilot Program and Rule
Change for Visa Processing in China and Brazil:
- Today, the Departments of
State and Homeland Security announced a pilot program to simplify and
speed up the non-immigrant visa process for certain applicants,
including the ability to waive interviews for some very low-risk
applicants, such as individuals from any country renewing non-immigrant
visas, or, in Brazil, younger or older first-time applicants. Link
to fact sheet HERE
for more information.
- Final Rule to Expand and Make
the Global Entry Program Permanent:
- Global Entry is a program
within the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection that was created as a pilot in 2008 to facilitate expedited
clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the
United States. Through a final rule, the Administration will expand and
make the Global Entry program permanent. Due in part to innovative
public-private partnerships, the Global Entry program now has more than
246,000 members, more than one million trusted travelers have Global
Entry benefits, and efforts are underway to expand enrollment even
further. There are currently 131 Global Entry kiosks at 20 airports and
since launching, members have used Global Entry kiosks over 1.7 million
times, saving CBP officers over 36,450 inspection hours—staff
hours that CBP has then re-allocated to expedite regular passenger
queues. This final rule will allow the program to be expanded to an
additional 4 airports in Minneapolis, Charlotte, Denver and Phoenix,
making the Global Entry program and expedited clearance available in
airports that service approximately 97% of international travelers.
- Appoint new members to the U.S.
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board:
- A new membership of 32 private
sector CEOs have been appointed by Commerce Secretary Bryson to serve
on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will
build upon the work undertaken by the past Board addressing travel
facilitation, visa policy, improving the international travel entry
experience, aviation security, energy security, crisis communications
and research and data, among other issues. This Board consists of
corporate executives across the nation, representing all aspects of the
travel and tourism industry, who are appointed to a two-year term to
advise the Secretary of Commerce on policies affecting the travel and
tourism industry. See the full list of new members HERE.
- Nomination of Taiwan to Visa
Waiver Program:
- Currently, more than 60% of
international tourists do not require a U.S. visa, in most cases
because they travel under the Visa Waiver Program. The Secretary of
State has formally requested that the Secretary of Homeland Security
consider Taiwan for the Visa Waiver Program. Over the past year, Taiwan
has undertaken significant efforts to improve its law enforcement and
document security standards to meet the strict requirements for Visa
Waiver Program eligibility. Under the Visa Waiver Program,
participating nationals can travel to the United States for tourism or
business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The
program was established to promote travel and tourism with our foreign
partners, stimulate the tourism industry, and permit the Department of
State to focus consular resources in other areas. Since November 2008,
the Department of Homeland Security has added nine countries to the
Visa Waiver Program, bringing the program total to 36 countries.
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