II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1663 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a competitive grant program 

to promote domestic regional tourism. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

Mr. BEGICH (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

and Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a competitive grant program to promote domestic regional tourism. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Travel Regional Invest5 ment Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The importance of travel and tourism can9 not be overstated. Travel and tourism employs 

10 America. 


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1 (2) Approximately 7,720,000 domestic jobs de2 pend on the travel and tourism industry. 

3 (3) The travel and tourism industry accounts 

4 for 2.8 percent of the Nation’s gross domestic prod5 uct. 

6 (4) The travel and tourism industry generates 

7 $1,300,000,000,000 in total expenditures. 

8 (5) The travel and tourism industry lost 

9 392,000 jobs in 2009. 

10 (6) In 2009, tourism output declined by 

11 $100,000,000,000. 

12 (7) Total direct tourism employment decreased 

13 by 0.5 percent in 2010. 

14 (8) Public-private partnerships have been un15 derutilized in the promotion of travel and tourism 

16 and are a dynamic tool in creating new domestic 

17 tourism markets and promoting domestic regional 

18 tourism growth. 

19 SEC. 3. DOMESTIC REGIONAL TOURISM GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 a competitive grant program, to be administered by the 

22 Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, to promote do23 mestic regional tourism growth and new domestic tourism 

24 market creation. 


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1 (b) RANGE OF GRANT MONETARY AMOUNTS.—The 

2 amount of each grant awarded under this section shall be 

3 not less than $100,000 and not more than $1,000,000. 

4 (c) GRANTEE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Grants may be 

6 awarded under this section to— 

7 (A) State tourism offices; 

8 (B) local destination marketing organiza9 tions; and 

10 (C) partnerships between a State or local 

11 government and local tourism entities. 

12 (2) REGIONAL DIVERSITY.—In awarding grants 

13 under this section, the Secretary may consider— 

14 (A) giving priority to regions with low con15 tributions to tourism marketing; 

16 (B) maintaining regional diversity of grant 

17 recipients; and 

18 (C) providing benefits to rural and less19 marketed destinations. 

20 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under 

21 this section may be used to— 

22 (A) promote domestic regional tourism 

23 growth; and 

24 (B) create new domestic tourism markets. 

25 (4) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 


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1 (A) SUBMISSION.—An eligible entity seek2 ing a grant under this section shall submit an 

3 application to the Secretary at such time, in 

4 such form, and with such information and as5 surances as the Secretary may require. 

6 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub7 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

8 (i) a description of the tourist pro9 motion activities to be funded by the grant; 

10 and 

11 (ii) in the case of a partnership be12 tween a State or local government and 

13 local tourism entities— 

14 (I) a list of the specific tourist 

15 entities that such government has 

16 partnered with to promote tourism 

17 within the relevant domestic region; 

18 (II) the details of the partnership 

19 agreement; 

20 (III) specific information explain21 ing how such partnership will increase 

22 regional tourism; and 

23 (IV) the anticipated positive im24 pact of the partnership on job creVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:35 Oct 07, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1663.IS S1663

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1 ation and employment in the relevant 

2 domestic region. 

3 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

4 (1) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—As a condition for 

5 receiving a grant under this section, the grant recipi6 ent shall provide, either directly or through dona7 tions from public or private entities, non-Federal 

8 matching funds, in cash or in-kind, in an amount 

9 equal to the amount of the grant. 

10 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR IN-KIND DONATIONS.— 

11 Of the amount of non-Federal matching funds re12 quired under paragraph (1), not more than 25 per13 cent may be provided through in-kind contributions. 

14 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 6 months after the last 

15 day of each fiscal year in which grants are awarded by 

16 the Secretary under this section, the Secretary shall sub17 mit a report to Congress that details— 

18 (1) travel-generated expenditures; 

19 (2) travel-generated tax receipts; and 

20 (3) travel-generated employment. 

21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) LOCAL TOURIST ENTITY.—The term ‘‘local 

23 tourist entity’’ means any public or private sector 

24 business engaged in tourism-related activities. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Commerce. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated, for each of the first 5 fiscal 

5 years beginning after the date of the enactment of this 

6 Act, $10,000,000, which shall be used for grants under 

7 this section and shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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