SECRETARY EVANS ANNOUNCES MARKETS
FOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S PROMOTIONAL TOURISM EFFORTS
Announcement Made During First U.S. Travel and
Tourism Advisory Board Meeting
Commerce Secretary Don Evans today announced that Canada, Mexico,
the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany will be the five countries
the Bush Administration will focus its international tourism promotional
campaign efforts. Evans made the announcement during today’s
first meeting of the United States Travel and Tourism Promotion
Advisory Board on Ellis Island in New York.
“The
travel and tourism industry greatly suffered an economic impact
from the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” Evans said. On the eve of
the second anniversary of 9/11 we want to send a global message
that America is a safe place to visit and that we live in a vast
and wonderful country with a diverse population and a proud history.
As the campaign gets underway, I look forward to seeing an increase
in visitors from these key markets and other countries which will
provide a needed boost to the U.S. travel and tourism industry and
added security for the many Americans who rely on this industry
for jobs.”
Earlier
this year, President Bush approved a $50 million appropriation to
create an international travel and tourism marketing and promotional
campaign. The campaign will focus on these five markets because
these are countries that have historically sent the most travelers
to the United States. They represent 75 percent of the international
travelers hosted in the United States in 2002 and 46 percent of
the receipts generated in 2001. In addition, these five countries
contributed more than $9 billion to the travel trade surplus.
The
campaign will include market and evaluation research, consumer and
trade advertising and promotional efforts focused on earned and
unearned media. There also will be a matching grants program to
support regional promotion efforts.
The
U.S. travel and tourism industry is responsible for approximately
17 million direct and indirect travel-related jobs in the United
States and is the fourth largest export for the U.S. economy. In
2002, travel and tourism to the United States generated $84 billion
in exports.
For
more information on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Promotion Advisory
Board, visit http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/about/us_promo_campaign/index.html.