U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

29–917 WASHINGTON : 2018

TRAVEL AND TOURISM: A SMALL BUSINESS ANGLE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, 

TAX, AND CAPITAL ACCESS 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

MAY 8, 2018 

Small Business Committee Document Number 115–070 

Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov 

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Congress.#13
(II) 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

DAVE BRAT, Virginia 

AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

STEVE KNIGHT, California 

TRENT KELLY, Mississippi 

ROD BLUM, Iowa 

JAMES COMER, Kentucky 

JENNIFFER GONZA ́ LEZ-COLO ́ N, Puerto Rico 

BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas 

RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina 

JOHN CURTIS, Utah 

NYDIA VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member 

DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania 

STEPHANIE MURPHY, Florida 

AL LAWSON, JR., Florida 

YVETTE CLARK, New York 

JUDY CHU, California 

ALMA ADAMS, North Carolina 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

VACANT 

KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Majority Staff Director 

JAN OLIVER, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ADAM MINEHARDT, Staff Director 

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C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Hon. Dave Brat ........................................................................................................ 1 

Hon. Dwight Evans ................................................................................................. 2 

WITNESSES 

Ms. Rita McClenny, President and CEO, Virginia Tourism Corporation, Richmond, VA .............................................................................................................. 3 

Mr. Steve Shur, President, Travel Tech, Arlington, VA ....................................... 5 

Mr. Cam Brensinger, Founder and CEO, NEMO Equipment, Inc., Dover, 

NH, testifying on behalf of the Outdoor Industry Association ......................... 7 

Ms. Jagruti Panwala, President and CEO, Wealth Protection Strategies, 

Bensalem, PA, testifying on behalf of the Asian American Hotel Owner’s 

Association ............................................................................................................ 9 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statements: 

Ms. Rita McClenny, President and CEO, Virginia Tourism Corporation, 

Richmond, VA ................................................................................................ 20 

Mr. Steve Shur, President, Travel Tech, Arlington, VA ............................... 25 

Mr. Cam Brensigner, Founder and CEO, NEMO Equipment, Inc., Dover, 

NH, testifying on behalf of the Outdoor Industry Association .................. 35 

Ms. Jagruti Panwala, President and CEO, Wealth Protection Strategies, 

Bensalem, PA, testifying on behalf of the Asian American Hotel Owner’s Association .............................................................................................. 41 

Questions for the Record: 

None. 

Answers for the Record: 

None. 

Additional Material for the Record: 

None. 

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TRAVEL AND TOURISM: A SMALL BUSINESS 

ANGLE 

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2018 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, TAX, AND CAPITAL ACCESS, Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 11:00 a.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building. Hon. Dave Brat [chairman 

of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Brat, Chabot, Kelly, Fitzpatrick, Curtis, 

Evans, and Clarke. 

Chairman BRAT. Good morning. I would like to call this meeting 

to order. 

Welcome to everyone for this great Committee meeting. 

With the weather warming up and school is about to let out, 

many American families will take to the road in the coming weeks 

to go on vacation and explore the beautiful sights our nation has 

to offer. 

Although this has many Americans taking time off from work, 

millions of Americans see the end of the school year and the rising 

temperatures as a sign that their work is about to significant pick 

up. In 2017, domestic and international travelers spent over $1 trillion in the United States. 

According to the U.S. Travel Association, an impressive 83 percent of businesses in the travel and tourism industries are considered small businesses. Eighty-three percent. And while small businesses are frequently the ones that take you from destination to 

destination, or provide American families for a place to stay on the 

road, the economic impact of the travel and tourism industries 

positively impacts small businesses in other industries as well. 

For example, an estimated $1 of every $4 spent at restaurants 

in this country are due to travel and tourism. Small businesses in 

a variety of industries depend on travel and tourism to keep the 

lights on and to pay their employees. 

The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced tax 

rates and complexity for businesses of all sizes, has already positively impacted the travel and tourism industries. 

According to the Department of Labor, the travel industry created over 17,000 jobs just in the first 2 months of 2018, which is 

50 percent higher than the amount of jobs created by the travel industry in the first 2 months of 2017. 

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Equally important, tax reform has provided small business owners with the resources to hire new employees and reward existing 

employees in the form of bonuses or raises, as well as the opportunity to invest resources back into their businesses. 

This week is National Travel and Tourism Week. Thus, you are 

all here with us. Thank you for coming. 

We have put together a distinguished panel to discuss the economic impact of the travel and tourism industries and how the private sector and the public sector can work together to ensure the 

travel and tourism industries in the United States continue to 

thrive. 

I thank you all for being here this morning, and I yield to the 

Ranking Member for his opening remarks. 

Mr. EVANS. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The travel and tourism sector plays a critical role in the U.S. 

economy and is an indispensable part of the industry ecosystem 

which makes up the nation’s economic fabric. In 2017, the tourism 

sector generated 2.4 trillion in economic output and supported 15.6 

million American jobs in a plethora of industries. Tourism is also 

one of the few sectors operating a multi-billion trade surplus. 

Small businesses are an essential part of the travel and tourism 

sector. Small companies in this sector are powerful job creators 

providing livelihoods and pathways out of poverty for millions 

across gender, age, and skill levels. 

For instance, travel dependent leisure and hospitality is the largest small business employer in the United States. Furthermore, research indicates that tourism has almost twice as many women 

employees as other sectors and employs young people at roughly 

twice the rate of other industries. 

Not only are small businesses companies or drivers of tourism 

travel, they also reap major benefits from the industry. The industry has grown significantly in the last 25 years, but when tourism 

stops flocking to the United States, people flying, driving domestically, they also cease spending money at hotels, restaurants, and 

small merchants. 

The travel and tourism sector is one place where we can invest 

and get significant returns for entrepreneurs for the United States’ 

economy. 

Why are international travelers visiting the United States? 

There are numerous potential reasons why they are. Besides our 

immigration and visa policy, we must also invest in our national 

transportation infrastructure and park system. Without safe roads, 

bridges, rails, cars, few domestic trips will be made to the uniquely 

American park and historical sites. Promoting tourism is not only 

good for our people, it also fosters business growth and social mobility and encourages economic growth. 

I might add that I represent the City of Philadelphia, which includes Philadelphia Historical District, the birthplace of the nation 

and the first World Heritage City in the United States as designated by the Organization of World Heritage Cities in 2015. 

As if you need more reason to visit the City of Brotherly Love 

and Sisterly Affection, experiencing our growth and experiencing 

the small business economic system just adds another. 

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I look forward to today’s hearing and thank the witnesses. And 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BRAT. Thank you very much. I did not put a plug in 

for my own state. You beat me to the punch on that. That is pretty 

good. 

I think you all probably know how the format works here. 

If Committee members have an opening statement prepared, I 

ask that it be submitted for the record. 

I would like to take a moment to explain the timing lights for 

you. You will each have 5 minutes to deliver your testimony and 

then we will go through a round of questions or two. 

The light will start out green. When you have 1 minute remaining, the light will turn yellow. Finally, at the end of the 5 minutes 

it will turn red. It is usually an indicator that your time is coming 

close to an end. I ask you try to adhere to that limit. If you go a 

little over that is fine today. And with that, we will begin. 

I think I will just introduce you one at a time, and we will just 

go in the order of introduction, and your 5 minutes will begin as 

soon as I am done with the introductions. 

Our first witness today is Ms. Rita McClenny, President and 

CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation. She oversees the agency’s annual budget and staff, which is responsible for tourism promotion in the State of Virginia. Many of you may know that Virginia Tourism Corporation through its famous slogan ‘‘Virginia is 

for Lovers,’’ which has been attracting tourists to Virginia for almost 50 years. 

And so thank you very much, Rita, for being with us today. And 

you may begin. 

STATEMENTS OF RITA MCCLENNY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, VIRGINIA TOURISM CORPORATION; STEVE SHUR, PRESIDENT, 

TRAVEL TECH; CAM BRENSINGER, FOUNDER AND CEO, 

NEMO EQUIPMENT, INC.; JAGRUTI PANWALA, PRESIDENT 

AND CEO, WEALTH PROTECTION STRATEGIES 

STATEMENT OF RITA MCCLENNY 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and 

other Subcommittee members. I am pleased to testify before you 

today representing Virginia Tourism Corporation, as Mr. Chairman 

indicated, and we are delighted also to be here to share with you 

the importance of this industry. I am also representing U.S. Travel 

today, which is a trade association representing all sectors of the 

national travel and tourism industry. 

And as you indicated, today is a part of National Tourism Week, 

so it makes today extra special. And, in fact, this week was put 

into law the legislation signed by President Reagan 34 years ago. 

The mission of U.S. travel is to increase travel to the U.S. and 

within the U.S., which also yields another $2.4 trillion in economic 

output annually and supports one in nine American jobs and 

makes travel the nation’s top service export. 

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ployer. We are all on the same page as you guys have indicated, 

all these wonderful statistics. 

Some of our success in Virginia is legendary. Next year, our signature ‘‘Virginia is for Lovers,’’ 50 years commemorating, and one 

of the most highly recognized tourism brands in the world. 

The famed Inn at Little Washington and the Blue Ridge Foothills 

opened during the worst snowstorm of the decade in 1978, and now 

is one of the crowned jewels of the lodging and dining scene nationally. 

Also nestled in an industrial neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, Hardywood Craft Brewery has played a pivotal role in Virginia’s boom of craft beer. 

As you well know, small businesses face recurring headwinds related to access to capital, attracting skilled employees, and overregulation that particularly impacts a small enterprise. Of particular interest to travel and tourism, small businesses is America’s 

share of a global travel. 

Unfortunately, America’s share of the global travel market has 

been declining. In 2016, international arrivals to the U.S. declined 

2.1 percent. In order to reverse this decline, we respectfully urge 

your support for five key areas. 

Gentlemen, full funding of Brand USA, infrastructure modernization, lifting the cap on the passenger facility charge user fee, protecting U.S. open skies agreements, conveying a clear message of 

welcome for international travelers to America. 

Brand USA was created to help market the U.S. in this booming 

global travel market. Just last week, Oxford Economics reported 

that since 2013, Brand USA’s efforts are directly responsible for increasing international travel by an incremental 5.4 million travelers. Despite Brand USA’s success, we were concerned to learn 

that the recent budget agreement, diverted STA fees after 2020 

away from Brand USA promotional opportunities. 

The return on investment from Brand USA is clear, especially for 

small businesses, and we hope you will join us in our work to sustain this critical work for Brand USA and the work of Brand USA. 

Without reliable infrastructure, small businesses could not operate, potential patrons will not visit. A key infrastructure barrier to 

the travel industry’s growth and future competitiveness is the poor 

condition of our nation’s airports. 

Last year, our two international airports in Virginia helped facilitate the travel of one million international visitors who spent $1.7 

billion during their travels. The passenger facility charge is an indispensable tool for local communities to maximize efficiency, reduce project costs, and ensure fiscal responsibility. Adjusting the 

PFC ceiling would allow each airport authority to tailor its own 

PFC rate to fit local needs. We think this is really important. 

Akin to our need to modernize our airport infrastructure, we 

must also preserve more than 120 open skies agreements which 

have yielded hundreds of thousands of American travel and manufacturing jobs, billions of dollars in U.S. economic growth, and 

lower fares for travelers. A great benefit. 

We appreciate your leadership, Chairman Brat, on fostering airline operations and competition. We appreciate all you do for your 

constituents in Virginia. And at U.S. Travel, our motto is simple, 

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‘‘Without security, there can be no travel.’’ America needs to convey 

a clear global message. And while we aggressive pursue security, 

we still welcome overseas visitors to relax on our beaches and to 

close deals in our boardrooms. 

Finally, I would like to extend to you an invitation to all members to please join us at the Visit USA Coalition Meeting tomorrow 

at 11 a.m. in the Visitors Center. There, we will discuss more and 

unveil a document to restore the declining U.S. share of the global 

travel market. We hope you can partner with us with this Subcommittee and with this Congress to promote and advance America’s travel and tourism industry. And it is a delight to be here 

with you today. Thank you. 

Chairman BRAT. Great. Thank you. Super. 

Our next witness is Mr. Steve Shur, President of Travel Tech in 

Arlington, Virginia. 

Travel Tech represents a variety of travel-related businesses, including short-term rental companies and travel search engines. Mr. 

Shur has over 20 years of experience in public affairs. And so 

thank you very much for being here with us this morning. We look 

forward to your testimony. Thank you, Mr. Shur. 

STATEMENT OF STEVE SHUR 

Mr. SHUR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Brat, Ranking 

Member Evans, members of the Committee. It is a pleasure to be 

here with you today, especially during National Travel and Tourism Week. 

I am Steve Shur, President of Travel Tech. We are the trade association for online travel companies, short-term rental platforms, 

global distribution systems, and travel management companies. 

Now, decidedly, my members are not small businesses, but I recognize that today’s Committee hearing is about the impact of travel 

and tourism on small business. And each of our members has a 

great story to tell with regard to how their contribution to the travel and tourism ecosystem helps small businesses. 

Our membership is really divided into three categories—GDSs, 

online travel agents, and metasearch sites and short-term rental 

platforms. And I would like to just briefly address each of those 

categories and how they impact small businesses. 

I will start with GDSs. Global distribution systems are truly the 

unsung heroes of the travel and tourism marketplace. They quite 

literally create the technology that allows consumers and travel 

agents to comparison shop. To demonstrate that, for example, there 

are over 700 commercial airlines in the world, each with their own 

routes, schedules, fares. The GDSs take that information and aggregate it and make it available to travel agencies so that when 

they are serving their clients, or you are shopping for a flight on 

an online travel site, you are getting meaningful results in realtime. These are technology titans that operate behind the scenes. 

Many people have not heard of some of these brands, like Sabre, 

Amadeus, and TravelPort, but you certainly have benefitted from 

them if you have ever booked a flight via a travel agent, whether 

online or in the community. 

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nologies. Travel agencies utilize the services of the GDSs to serve 

their clients, to make sure that they have all the information they 

need to make an informed choice. In fact, 98 percent of travel agencies are small businesses. And Mr. Chairman, in Virginia, 70 percent of travel agencies have fewer than five people, and 95 percent 

of them employ fewer than 20. So truly small businesses that benefit from the great technology that these GDSs deploy. 

Without the GDS technology, these small business agents would 

have trouble servicing their clients. They might not know which 

flights are available on a particular route that their client needs, 

or they would have to visit multiple websites or make phone calls 

to multiple airlines to figure it all out. So the GDS technology gives 

them the power and the opportunity to make their business thrive. 

And so we are quite proud of how our GDS members help the small 

business community, particularly travel agencies. 

Our online travel agent members and metasearch sites, like 

Expedia and Priceline, Booking.com, Trip Advisor, Sky Scanner, 

help small businesses in a variety of ways. And I would like to just 

talk briefly about how that happens. 

Particularly, online travel agents inspire people to travel. They 

actually, with their marketing, advertising, promotions, and 

deals—many of you probably are subscribing to their emails and 

you see the pictures of the beaches and the mountains—they are 

actually inspiring people to get off their couches and book trips. 

Further, they are able to provide consumers with package deals 

where they can save money. And the research shows that when 

consumers book trips via online travel agents, they tend to spend 

more money than those who choose to book elsewhere. And the reason for that is that likely they have saved money on their booking 

in the first place, and so they have more disposable income to 

spend when they are on the road. And oftentimes those expenditures benefit small businesses in the localities where they visit. 

The second way that online travel agencies and metasearch sites 

benefit small businesses is really on behalf of independent hotels, 

small motels, independently owned properties. And in this dynamic, the small, independent properties have to compete with the 

major brands that have huge marketing budgets. And just by being 

listed on an online travel site, that independent hotel, which may 

not have worldwide marketing recognition, gets to compete with 

the major hotel brands. And so they are benefitting these small, 

independent hotels and small inns and bed and breakfasts by giving them the exposure. They are quite literally marketing those 

properties to the world. 

And so in that regard, our online travel agent members and 

metasearch members benefit those small businesses tremendously. 

Our short-term rental platforms, Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, 

Trip Advisor Vacation Rentals, is a relatively new environment. 

While vacation renting is nothing new, these platforms are new, 

and many people are taking advantage of the convenience and the 

access to short-term rentals that they have never had before. Not 

only do short-term rental visitors stay longer and spend more 

money benefitting communities, what is important to note about 

those travelers is they are often staying in areas that are not the 

traditional downtown tourist areas or convention center areas. 

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They are benefitting small businesses in communities that traditionally have not seen economic benefit from travel and tourism. So 

they are expanding the circle of where tourism dollars are being 

spread. 

Secondly, they have created an entire new industry of cleaning 

companies, property managers, and software companies that are 

helping homeowners manage the process of renting out their 

homes. 

In conclusion, while our members are not small businesses, we 

are certainly on the frontlines with consumers. Our members benefit the travel and tourism ecosystem in a way that benefits small 

businesses beyond just stimulating more travel, but certainly giving them the tools that they need to thrive and grow. 

And with that, I am happy to answer any questions. Thank you 

very much for your time. 

Chairman BRAT. Thank you, Mr. Shur. Very good. 

Next, I would like to introduce Mr. Cam Brensinger, the Founder 

and CEO of Nemo Equipment, a 23 employee outdoor equipment 

company based in Dover, New Hampshire. Mr. Brensinger started 

Nemo after completing a degree in industrial design from the 

Rhode Island School of Design. And so thank you for being here 

with us today and for sharing your story. 

STATEMENT OF CAM BRENSINGER 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, 

and members of the Committee, thank you for having me here 

today. 

I started my company when I was 25 years old and a senior at 

the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), studying industrial design. I was also working part time at MIT, funded by NASA, to develop a better space suit for human exploration on Mars. 

New England taught me to love outdoor adventures. When I was 

a senior in high school in Manchester, New Hampshire, I got permission to spend a month hiking the toughest sections of the Appalachian Trail and write about it. At Middlebury College in 

Vermont, I ran the rock climbing club and led countless trips 

climbing, hiking, and cavings in the mountains of Vermont. When 

I graduated from Middlebury, my only definitive plan actually was 

to climb Denali in Alaska, which three friends and I undertook in 

1998. 

My experiences in the outdoors and my passion for physics and 

art ultimately led me to discover industrial design, and I found myself going back to design school after college on a mission to start 

my own company. 

I incorporated my new company, Nemo Equipment, in April of 

2002, and 3 days after graduation, opened our first office in New 

Hampshire to be near the wonderful places that shaped me passions. 

Today, Nemo has grown to a well-known, award-winning, international gear brand with 24 employees, actually, as of Friday. 

Nemo products are sold in 19 countries around the world, with significant market share in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and a growing presence in Europe. We own more than 50 pending and awarded patents and trademarks. We have been featured on the DisSBR002 with DISTILLER

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covery Channel, named by Time Magazine as among the best inventions of the year, and received international awards for product 

design. Our products are used by families for camping weekends, 

professional mountaineers attempting first descents, and by the top 

echelon of American Special Operation Forces. 

I am very proud to be here also as a board member of the Outdoor Industry Association. OIA is the leading trade group for the 

outdoor industry, representing more than 1,300 member companies, including manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, guides, and outfitters. The outdoor industry represents a recreation economy that 

includes $887 billion in annual consumer spending, with 79 percent 

of that from trips, travel, and tourism. 

The outdoor recreation economy also supports 7.6 million American jobs, and according to a recent study by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the outdoor industry represents 2 percent of GDP. 

The BEA study also demonstrates that the outdoor recreation economy is growing at 3.8 percent, 1 percent faster than the U.S. economy as a whole. 

According to OIA’s recently released congressional district level 

report, every community in every state in the country has a viable 

outdoor recreation economy. Chairman Brat, constituents in your 

district spend almost $1.5 billion on recreation on alone each year. 

Ranking Member Evans, your constituents spend nearly $900 million on recreation each year. Both districts are made up of consumers focusing on camping, trail sports, and fishing. 

These economies, like any, need infrastructure. As you know, the 

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is due to expire at the 

end of this fiscal year. We ask Congress to please support reauthorization and full funding of the LWCF since maintaining our public 

lands is vital to the health of outdoor recreation, and LWCF benefits every county in the country. 

When people hear travel and tourism, they may not think of the 

complex global supply chains that bring to market the clothing and 

equipment that support travel. American businesses like mine provide coveted and high-paying jobs in engineering, design, marketing, advertising, financial, and sales, that support adventure 

travel. Our American outdoor brands are some of the most innovative and revered in the world. 

Many of our industries’ jobs in sewing and assembly have, since 

the 1990s, moved abroad in search of an available and willing labor 

force, which means companies like mine end up paying high tariffs 

to bring out finished goods back into the country. In fact, outdoor 

companies pay disproportionately high tariffs. While average inbound tariff is less than 3 percent, the average tariff on outdoor 

products is 14 percent, and can be as high as 40 percent. 

Outdoor product manufacturers pay approximately $750 million 

annually in import taxes to the U.S. Treasury. Duty relief on outdoor products not manufactured domestically can help lower costs, 

fuel innovation, and get more Americans outdoors. We ask for your 

support of the U.S. Outdoor Act that allows for more innovation by 

American companies, while protecting our industry’s domestic manufacturers. 

Americans love the outdoors. Over half of all Americans enjoy 

outdoor activities every year. Whether close to home or at far away 

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iconic places, the outdoor recreation economy is resilient and is 

growing faster than the economy as a whole. My business is just 

one example of thousands of companies that are creating highly desirable American jobs with access to healthy outdoor lifestyles and 

turning our shared love of being outside into a driving force in the 

U.S. economy. 

Thank you for the work that you do to support the people, places, 

and infrastructure that make outdoor adventure possible and allow 

it to be a major part of my life and a significant component of our 

country’s heritage, identity, and economy. I hope this testimony 

will be of value to your Committee. 

Chairman BRAT. It was. Thank you very much. Great testimony. 

I would just like to recognize our Chairman, my boss came in the 

room, Chairman Chabot down at the end there. Welcome him. 

And then at this point I would like to now yield to our Ranking 

Member, Dwight Evans, for the introduction of the final witness. 

Mr. EVANS. Good morning. 

It is my pleasure to introduce Ms. Jagruti Panwala. I think I got 

that right. 

Ms. PANWALA. Yes. 

Mr. EVANS. Okay. The President and CEO of Wealth Protection 

Strategies in Bensalem, which my colleague who serves on this 

Committee who represents that district, Congressman Fitzpatrick. 

She has been the recipient of numerous industries and company 

awards, serves as the vice chairwoman of the Asian American 

Hotel Owners Association. She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg 

University in Pennsylvania, and she is testifying on behalf of the 

Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the largest hotel owners 

association in the world, nearly 18,000. That is extremely impressive. 

Again, you have the opportunity now to testify. 

STATEMENT OF JAGRUTI PANWALA 

Ms. PANWALA. Thank you very much. 

Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and the members of 

the Committee, it is an honor to appear before you today. 

My name is Jagruti Panwala. My family and I are small business 

owners from Pennsylvania. We are independent owners and operators of five hotels in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I 

am also the President and CEO of a financial planning company 

where we help small business owners reach their development 

goals. I also chair as a vice chairwoman of Asian American Hotel 

Owners Association, which is AAHOA. 

As you mentioned, AAHOA represents 18,000 members, and our 

members own one out of every two hotels in the United States. We 

employ over 600,000 workers, accounting for nearly $10 billion in 

payroll annually. AAHOA proudly serves on the board of directors 

of the U.S. Travel Association, and is a member of the Visit U.S. 

coalition organizations that are leading the effort to expand travel 

and tourism within and to the United States. 

I am here to tell you about the state of America’s wonderful travel industry, and it is fitting to have this discussion during National 

Travel and Tourism Week. Our industry drives economic expansion, job creation, and prosperity in the United States. The travel 

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and tourism sector reaches nearly every corner of the country and 

is a top 10 industry in nearly every state. 

There are four metrics I like to highlight to illustrate a tremendous economic impact of our industry. In 2017, according to U.S. 

Travel Association, the travel and tourism accounted for $2.4 trillion in economic output and supported 15.6 million American jobs. 

American workers directly employed in the travel industry earn 

nearly $260 billion in wages and the Federal, state and local government collected $165 billion in tax revenues from our industry. 

In the lodging sector, total U.S. room demand is higher than it 

has ever been before. The leading economic metrics for hoteliers, 

including occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per available 

room, are expected to increase through 2018. 

For small business owners like me, and the vast majority of our 

members, this is amazing news. Small businesses account for 83 

percent of companies in the industry, and we are seeing the benefits of a robust economy and thriving travel sector. 

Travel and tourism sector small businesses contribute to their 

communities by creating jobs, training employees, and reinvesting 

in capital locally. In fact, the number one small business employer 

in the United States is the travel dependent leisure and hospitality 

sector. Forty percent of workers who begin their career in travel ultimately achieve salaries over $100,000. In addition, our industry 

provides a tremendous foundation for employees with less formal 

education. And when they are beginning their career in travel, 

achieve an average career salary of nearly $70,000, which is 5 percent higher than any other industry. 

While good things are happening now, there are, of course, some 

challenges. One of the biggest concerns we have is increasing gas 

prices. Higher gas prices mean higher costs, fewer travelers, and 

fewer trips. Another area we are watching closely is the trends of 

international travelers to the United States. These visitors spend 

nearly $4,500 and spend 18 nights per visit, amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars on travel and tourism. 

Recently, the Department of Commerce announced that their 

data in tracking international visitors may be wrong. I encourage 

that we follow this development to make sure the information we 

have is valuable so we as a business owner can make a sound decision. 

International visitors are critical for our national economy, our 

workforce, and local communities. 

Consequently, I ask us to review two important programs. 

The first one is Brand USA, and the second one is the Visa Waiver Program. Since 2013, Brand USA has encouraged millions of 

people to come to the United States, which has generated nearly 

$40 billion in revenues and supports over 50,000 American jobs. I 

am hopeful that it could be reauthorized in its current form with 

the strong bipartisan support like it has been in the past. 

The Visa Waiver Program is also important. It enables travelers 

to visit the United States without first obtaining a visa. The trips 

are limited and include security measures to protect against misuse 

by bad actors. I urge you and your colleagues to enhance and expand the Visa Waiver Program. 

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Finally, the new tax law is important to small business owners. 

Small business confidence is growing and we are creating new jobs, 

increasing wages, and expanding our businesses to help ensure a 

thriving outlook for America’s travel and tourism industry. Please 

make sure the tax relief for small business is a permanent solution. 

In conclusion, Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and the 

members of the Committee, I thank you for your time today and 

allowing me to share my story. And I wish you a happy National 

Travel and Tourism Week. Thank you. 

Chairman BRAT. Thank you very much. 

With that, I think we will open up to questions. Anyone have to 

leave? Anyone have pressing time constraints on them? Why do 

you not go ahead? Why do you not lead us off? 

Mr. Curtis, I yield to you for the first round of questions. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member 

Evans, and this distinguished panel. 

Although I spent 8 years in Virginia and experienced many of 

the things you discussed, my district is in Utah. And many of you 

will know Utah for its amazing natural landmarks and world-renowned recreational activities. 

In my district, people travel from all over the world to arches, 

to some of the greatest snow on earth. Just to make you a little 

bit jealous, from my home, within 60 minutes, I can reach 12 ski 

resorts. Several years ago, I wanted to make a point. I traveled 15 

minutes from my home in one direction and snow skied. On the 

same day, traveled 15 minutes the other direction and waterskied. 

So I welcome you all to come to Utah and see what we have got 

there. 

This kind of travel and tourism significantly impacts our economy. Every year in my district, there is approximately $2 billion 

spent on outdoor recreation. We have 288 outdoor companies in my 

district. And because of this, it is important that we continue to 

support the state and local recreational economies. And I am 

pleased to be part of this Committee today and be here with you. 

Mr. Brensinger, you mentioned in your testimony the high import tariffs outdoor companies faced. I think you said as high as 

40 percent, which caught my attention, and the urgent need for 

tariff relief. How does that impact your business? And how would 

lower tariffs help fuel innovation and, specifically, job growth? 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Thank you very much, representative, for 

the question. And I have spent quite a bit of time in Utah. Twice 

a year for a long stretch for our retailer show and many times personally to go to Zion and incredible places in your state. 

As far as tariffs go, our market is extremely competitive at this 

point. A lot of the big famous brands in our industry have grown 

into significant corporations and are seeking growth as they move 

into larger markets of creation. And that makes a very price competitive landscape. So for us, you know, we pay between 4.5 and 

9 percent tariffs on our particular goods. As you mentioned, our industry in general pays as high as 20 or even 40 percent on footwear and apparel. I would like to assure you that a relief of tariffs 

would not end up in my pocket. It would result in us being able 

to invest more in R&D, to make our products more price competitive in the market. There are so many forces at play today to be 

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a successful business like ours. Every basis point of margin makes 

a big difference, and ultimately, outdoor equipment is expensive for 

the American consumer to purchase, and good equipment is really 

essential, as you know, to have great experiences in the outdoors. 

So I think if we want to grow outdoor recreation in general, lowering tariffs will translate into increasing participation. 

Mr. CURTIS. And we could then assume job growth as well locally? 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Yes, sir. 

Mr. CURTIS. Could you touch just a little bit on the global supply chain impact on your industry and job growth as well? 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Yes, thank you. 

Yeah, so we, in my company, we have 24 employees that cover 

a range of jobs from design, engineering, marketing, customer service, operations. In the entire kind of global supply chain of our 

business, from the folks who produce the yarns and weave the textiles, all the way to the folks that sell the goods ultimately, Americans represent the best, highest paying, most innovation-focused 

jobs in that whole continuum. And so for us, you know, I would say 

when I started the company I actually really wanted to do our 

manufacturing in the U.S., partly for reasons of patriotism and 

partly for reasons of pragmatism. I wanted to be able to visit the 

factories and learn with them and be part of the development process. So for the first few years of Nemo, I spent a lot of time visiting 

with domestic sewing manufacturers. And ultimately, I did learn to 

sew from a couple cottage industry sewers in New Hampshire. But 

at the end of the day, the sewing industry had compressed so much 

over the decade since the ‘90s, I did not see a viable path for our 

manufacturing in the states, and ultimately, kind of tapped into 

the Pacific Rim supply chain for sewing, where really the best sewing factories are. 

And then a few years later, we met some Navy SEALs and developed a military component to our business which, because the 

Barry Amendment caused us going, searching again for domestic 

sewing. And to be honest with you, what I found in juxtaposing 

these two supply chains, is sewing in the U.S. is about 80 percent 

the quality and twice the price. So the reality is for us to be competitive in the market today, although we do all of the most valueadding jobs in the states as far as intellectual property and the creativity and innovation, the sewing, per se, really has to come from 

abroad. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. 

I am out of time, but let me just end with a comment that it has 

been my experience that in Utah, your industry is overflowing with 

innovation and it is pretty amazing and fun to watch. Also, it has 

been my experience that some of our most socially responsible companies are in your industry in my district. So thank you very much. 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Thank you, sir. 

Chairman BRAT. Thank you, Mr. Curtis. 

I will yield to our Ranking Member, Mr. Evans. 

Mr. EVANS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Ms. Panwala, I want to go something you said about a challenge. 

And I sort of heard Mr. Brensinger say forces that affect this whole 

industry. So you seem like you are both saying the same. And you 

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are talking about energy costs. And obviously, today, the President 

is on the verge of nixing the Iran deal. Obviously, that has huge 

implications. So talk to me a little bit about the energy and the 

issue from your perspective. You talk about gas costs, what kind 

of impact? 

Ms. PANWALA. So I will give you my perspective, obviously, as 

just a business owner. You know, whenever there is a cost of anything which affects travel, it affects the hospitality industry. So if 

the gas prices are rising, and people who are flying into a local 

area or even going to Disney, it affects them. So I think as a business owner, our concern is that whenever there is a cost of travel, 

that it affects the tourism as it would. And that certainly is a concern. If the gas prices are increasing, then certainly domestic travel, which is almost 80 percent of what we depend on, is going to 

affect, besides international travel. 

Mr. EVANS. But the forces, why do you not speak a little on 

that? 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Yeah. Thank you, sir, for the question. 

What I was referring to is it is a hypercompetitive marketplace 

today. And for brands like ours to be successful, we really have to 

be Omni channel businesses. We have to have an online component. We have to have specialty retailers. We have to have large 

specialty retailers. We have to do a lot of things well so we can be 

wherever the customer wants to find us. And that relates back to 

the tariff issue in that it is difficult today. The way the world 

works, manufacturers can distribute products straight through 

major online retailers, some in particular, to the consumer, in a 

way that is making being a high-end brand challenging. And so for 

us, it is difficult to maintain the margin that you need to grow at 

35 percent per year, and tariff reduction would make a big difference in that. 

Mr. EVANS. Mr. Shur, your testimony talked about AirHubs and 

other short-term rental companies helping middle class families get 

by, but a lot of reports have shown that AirHubs in particular are 

driving up housing prices and making it harder for families to 

make ends meet. So which is right? 

Mr. SHUR. So the short-term rental industry, again, is not new. 

These platforms are new, and travelers are finding that short-term 

rental accommodations are more accessible than ever before. The 

claim that short-term rentals are impacting housing stock or housing prices is simply not the case. If you look at the total number 

of housing units in any particular city and compare that to the 

number of short-term rentals that are being offered in that market, 

it is usually a very, very small percentage of the total housing 

costs. 

One of the examples I like to point out is in the San Francisco 

area, for example, which has notoriously high housing costs. Airbnb 

and the existence of the short-term rental platforms were not the 

cause for high housing costs in San Francisco. It has been that way 

for a very long time. In fact, short-term rentals have enabled homeowners to earn a little extra income so that they can afford to stay 

in their homes. So we believe that the short-term rental industry 

is providing great value and great benefit to these communities 

and not impacting housing stock or affordable housing in any way. 

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Mr. EVANS. Ms. McClenny, can you speak to, you know, particularly in your position as you look at the 50 states, the issue about 

diversity and inclusion in the hospitality industry? Can you talk a 

little bit about that? Because I will tell you my background. Many 

years I spent on the board in Philadelphia on the Convention Visitors Board for many years. And there was a person in Philadelphia 

by the name of Ms. Young, who used to run the convention center. 

So can you talk a little bit about the aspect of inclusion and diversity in the industry? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Yes, Congressman Evans. Thank you. 

Tourism is America’s best first job. So as Americans look for employment, the tourism industry is very diverse, has a wide range 

of opportunities in many industries that come as a part of this 

service industry, like technology. Services to small business that 

have to do with transportation, that have to do with media production, planning. So every spectrum that one can imagine. And our 

colleges now have tourism programs. So we find that for a wide 

range of people, the tourism and hospitality industry provides an 

entry into employment. And from that, people are going on to get 

advanced degrees. They are going on to have very wonderful salaries and the opportunity to raise their families and live wherever 

in these 50 states in the United States that they choose to live because tourism is located in every single state. And I am happy to 

say that it is a growing industry. It is also an industry that rebounds quicker than others back to post-recession times. So it has 

a wide range of benefits, and it is a lot of fun. 

Mr. EVANS. Thank you. 

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman BRAT. Thank you, Dwight. 

I would like to yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. 

Fitzpatrick. 

Mr. FITZPATRICK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome to 

the panel. 

Ms. Panwala, good to see you from business-friendly Bensalem. 

Welcome to D.C. 

Mr. Shur, I want to expand on a question of my colleague, 

Dwight Evans. Interested to hear about the impact that companies 

like Airbnb, like HomeAway, have on small business hotels. Not on 

home prices, but on small business hotels. Because it seems to me 

that the short-term rentals that are offered by these companies are 

in many ways similar to hotels, and yet they are not subject to the 

same regulations. Local regulations, Federal, ADA regulations, how 

is that not unfair competition? 

Mr. SHUR. Thank you for your question, Congressman. 

I will start by setting the stage. So the hotels are experiencing 

the highest occupancy rates in history in the past several years. 

What we are finding is that short-term rentals are inspiring people 

to travel more and travel more often, and sometimes that means 

they will stay in a hotel and sometimes that means they will stay 

in a short-term rental. How short-term rental platforms are impacting small hotels, I would say they are impacting them very 

positively. Many small inns, bed and breakfasts and actually listing 

their properties on short-term rental platforms now because that is 

where consumers are choosing to shop. 

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Regarding the regulatory environment for short-term rentals, it 

is our belief that if someone chooses to rent out their home, that 

it is still a private residence and it is not a commercial entity that 

is subject to all the same conditions as a commercial building, 

namely a hotel, and therefore, as far as the negative impact on hotels, we do not believe that to be the case. I think that from a competitive standpoint, the hotels have tried to make more of that 

issue than actually exists because, again, it is a private residence 

being made available to travelers. It is not a hotel at the end of 

the day. 

Mr. FITZPATRICK. It is not a hotel, but if one is subject to regulation and the other is not, and yet they are essentially offering the 

same service, how is that not unfair competition? 

Mr. SHUR. Well, there are a couple of components to that. On 

the issue of taxation, we believe that short-term rentals are taxable, and that should be the responsibility of the homeowner and 

they should pay the same occupancy tax that the hotels do. 

With regard to the regulatory environment, that is really up to 

the locality, and it is fundamentally a zoning and private property 

rights issue to determine if and how a municipality chooses to 

deem someone’s home a commercial property. We do not believe 

that to be the case. A person’s residence is typically in a residentially zoned area, not a commercial area. And so to apply commercial regulatory schemes to residences we believe is not appropriate. 

Mr. FITZPATRICK. How about the ADA? 

Mr. SHUR. Well, again, I do not know if by just renting out your 

home, whether it is a beach house, a lake house, or a condo in the 

city, should require you to completely renovate your home to make 

it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act because, 

again, it is a home. And ADA typically does not apply to residences. And therefore, just because someone is staying in that 

home, whether they are paying for it or whether it is your relative, 

does not necessitate the need for ADA compliance. 

Mr. FITZPATRICK. One other question, Mr. Shur. Looking my 

notes here, we met with our staff. It is my understanding that 

Expedia and Priceline, who control 95 percent or so of the market 

for online travel agencies, charge their highest rates to independent hotels. So is that true? You know, independent hotels who 

are not part of a chain and are often small businesses and familyowned businesses, we are being told that these companies charge 

these small businesses 15 to 30 percent more of each hotel room 

booked on their sites. Can you comment on that? 

Mr. SHUR. Well, I cannot speak directly to the terms of the 

agreements between independent hotels and online travel sites. 

But what I can speak to is the great benefit that small properties 

get from being listed on an OTA. Cornell University did a study 

commonly known as the Billboard Effect, and they found that just 

by being listed on an online travel site, a property, whether independent or a major brand, sees a 9 percent increase in direct bookings. What that means is people are shopping for rooms on online 

travel sites, then leaving the online travel site and going to book 

direct. So that exposure that a small independent property gets is 

invaluable in terms of their ability to compete with the major 

brands. And so I would suggest that, again, I do not know the 

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terms of the agreements and whether the rates the online travel 

sites have with the independent properties, but the benefit is absolutely tremendous. They are literally marketing those properties to 

the world where travelers typically would not have heard of those 

properties when shopping for accommodations in a given market. 

Mr. FITZPATRICK. My time is expired. 

Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

Chairman BRAT. A lot of you mentioned international competition, and the decline, the relative decline of U.S. share globally, et 

cetera. If you could all just comment. We will start with Rita and 

work on down. If you could just all comment. I mean, when I started teaching economics 25 years ago, India and China, the average 

income per capital was 1,000 bucks. Right now it is growing 

through the roof. And so is that loss in share just due to the fact 

that they are getting online capabilities and they have got great 

sites and can market with us. And so our relative share is going 

down. Or is it more problematic, linked to infrastructure, something we are doing wrong where we can make some inroads to compete better. Or both of those, et cetera. 

Rita? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Mr. Chairman, it is a combination of factors. 

It is access to the skies. With the Open Skies Agreement, the Visa 

Waiver Program. What we would like the landscape to look like is 

greater access to smaller and regional airports for flights to come 

in, whether they be domestic carriers or foreign carriers. Also, in 

terms of the decline, it is a very competitive landscape. So an organization like Brand USA, really has an opportunity to have a high 

impact on promoting travel in the United States. And a lot of countries have had advertising programs for a number of years. So we 

are really catching up, and we really are trying to stabilize that opportunity for every city, community, destination, marketing organization around the country, to have an equal access to market 

through a lot of the co-ops and a lot of, frankly, the buy downs that 

Brand USA’s buying power gives them to have the ability to market themselves to international visitors. 

Mr. SHUR. I agree there is a combination of factors. I think from 

a broad standpoint, our industry views this issue as what type of 

message are we sending the world in terms of America being a 

great place to visit and making sure that all the security boxes are 

checked, and ensuring the traveling public globally that America is 

still open for business and a great place to visit with access to uncounted attractions and opportunities for visitors to come and enjoy 

this country. So it is about a global message and making sure that 

we are continuing to be vigilant on security, but ensuring that the 

message is being sent to the rest of the world that America is still 

a great place to visit. 

Mr. CHABOT. Is this a kind of constant, gradual decline over a 

decade or two? Or in recent years has there been a sharp drop off? 

Does anyone know the answer to that one? I mean, what are we 

looking at timeframe here? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. I would say it is recent. Yeah. Because up 

until 2016, we were increasing our inbound travel from international visitors. 

Mr. CHABOT. What is the decline? 

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Ms. MCCLENNY. 2.1 percent. 

Mr. CHABOT. Percent decline? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Yes. 

Mr. CHABOT. And what was the growth rate prior? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. I do not know the exact number but it was 

closer to a 5 percent growth. 

Mr. CHABOT. Growth rate that we were—— 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Yeah, that we were on a trajectory for. Yes. So 

it has been a significant impact, as you can tell. 

Mr. CHABOT. Ms. Panwala, do you want to—— 

Ms. PANWALA. I would say the same thing. It is a combination 

of multiple things, but I think perception outside the United States 

is that the United States does not welcome a lot of visitors, which 

I think is a perception more than a reality. So I think if we change 

our perception outside the world, outside the United States, it 

would certainly help. But yeah. 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Chairman, thank you for the question. I 

would say that I represent maybe a slightly different perspective, 

which is maybe a diamond in the rough there. I think outdoor participation in general has been steady. In some categories it is growing. I think we should not forget that we have incredible outdoor 

spaces in this country which are tremendous assets and huge 

draws for tourism. In fact, we had 331 million people visit our national parks last year. I think that is an important reminder that 

we need to continue to invest in those spaces. And I noted that we 

have a $12 billion backlog right now in maintenance of our national parks. I think we should keep that in mind. 

Another thing I wanted to just very quickly point out is the 

interrelationship of gear to tourism, because I mentioned that we 

represent $887 billion of consumer spending. About $700 of that is 

trips, travel, and tourism. The balance of that, almost $200 billion, 

is around gear. And the good news is, as I mentioned earlier, our 

American brands are dominant in that global space. 

Chairman BRAT. Great. 

And open to anyone who knows the answer. Where has the decline been? Has it been in any region more pronounced than other 

regions, the drop-off? Any sectors more than others? From any regional area globally that the drop-off is recognizable? So there is 

a 1 or 2 percent decline. Where is it focused here? Where is the decline coming from? Have we identified that? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Mr. Chairman, when travelers look at potential vacation sites, they are looking at the globe, really. So what we 

have seen is the increase in places like Canada, Saudi Arabia, 

Spain, Australia, up 20-plus percent. So on a very competitive landscape, to get the traveling families’ attention, it really is about 

where can I go that I feel welcomed? Where can we go, because we 

are spending our precious family dollars and this precious time? 

People do not want to bring that stress or anxiety to a vacation experience. So we have seen a decline in inquiries, and initially, 

when this negative sentiment was happening, it did not impact the 

actual travel. But now we see that it has impacted the actual 

transactional retail side of the business where people are making 

decisions to go to other countries. And that is why it is so important that we remain competitive, that we keep our foot on the 

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pedal through Brand USA and through our airport accessibility to 

stay welcoming and friendly, to have wait times decreased through 

our Border Patrol, to have the latest and greatest technology so 

that people have, again, easy access. And it is an impression that 

people have, and it is something that we can turn around. It is doable. And I think that if we can just stay focused and we can, 

again, present ourselves in the most positive light, that people will 

return in droves. 

Mr. EVANS. Like Virginia is for Lovers. 

Ms. MCCLENNY. Like Virginia is for Lovers. 

Mr. EVANS. That is right. 

Chairman BRAT. And I just do not know the basic facts here, so 

that is kind of why I am probing. Is this a decline of folks coming 

here or a decline of folks coming here relative to us going there? 

Or is it just an absolute decline in folks coming here from abroad? 

Ms. MCCLENNY. It is a decline of international travelers from 

nondomestic, non-U.S. locations coming to the U.S. Yes. Yes. 

Chairman BRAT. Coming to the U.S. Okay, great. Great. 

Dwight, did you have any follow-up? 

Mr. EVANS. No. 

Chairman BRAT. I will just close on this, because this is the 

Small Business Committee. If you had to give us one recommendation to try to incentivize small business to be more helpful, et 

cetera, in your industry, what would it be? 

Why do we not start at Ms. Panwala? I do not want to catch you 

off-guard. If anybody wants to zip in. 

Ms. PANWALA. No, I would say the tax reform that we are 

working on currently right now, continue capital access to small 

business owners. Continue promoting travel and tourism, domestic 

and internationally. Because, like I said, the small businesses comprise 83 percent of all the companies in the industry. So as much 

as you can help small businesses, they will always reinvest back 

into the economy by creating more jobs, hiring more employees, 

and also reinvesting by building and purchasing more of the hotels. 

So as much as we can make it easier for small business owners to 

reinvest, that would be something that I would urge that we consider. 

Mr. BRENSINGER. Thank you, Chairman. 

Pretty simple for us. Two parts. One is we have no outdoor industry without public lands. So in general, supporting our beautiful 

outdoor spaces is paramount. Renewal of LWCF is one of many 

concrete ways to do that. The other is, and this really hits home 

for me is, again, the tariff relief issue through multilateral or bilateral trade agreements. MTBs, the GSP program, or individual 

pieces of legislation, like the U.S. Outdoor Act, that allows us to 

give consumers the best value in outdoor gear and helps support 

innovative businesses like my own. 

Mr. SHUR. I think the benefits of the travel and tourism economy on small businesses are clear. I would suggest that anything 

we can do to invest in our travel and tourism economy, whether it 

is Brand USA, whether it is airport infrastructure, national parks, 

all those things contribute to stimulating the travel and tourism 

economy, which is ultimately going to benefit small businesses 

across the country. 

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Ms. MCCLENNY. Mr. Chairman, we have multiple drivers that 

really move the needle, and really, Brand USA is power packed because it is the multiplier effect of those dollars that are collected 

that are invested into campaigns. Access to capital for small businesses and job creation through small business is the creator of a 

travel economy. And that travel economy contributes so much to 

the USA. 

Chairman BRAT. Great. Thank you very much. 

Dwight, any? Grand slam, all right. 

Thank you all very much for being with us. Very informative. I 

learned a ton. Thank you for making the trip and sharing your testimony with us. Thank you. Have a great week. 

I ask unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative days 

to submit statements and supporting materials for the record. 

Pause for objection. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

You like that? That was humor, if you did not get that. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

This hearing is now adjourned. 

Thank you all very much. 

[Whereupon, at 12:02 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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Testimony of Rita McCienne-y 

President and Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Tourism Corporation. 

Hearing on 'Travel and Tourism: A Small Business Angle" 

Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access 

U.S. House Committee on Small Business 

May8,2018 

Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans and other Subcommittee members: 

I am pleased to testifY before you today representing the Virginia Tourism Corporation, 

the state agency charged with marketing the Commonwealth as a premier destination, 

and the U.S. Travel Association, the trade association representing all sectors ofthe 

national travel and tourism industry. 

On be ha If of the 15.6 million Americans whose livelihoods depend on a robust trave I 

sector, we thank you for holding this hearing. It couldn't be more important to us, 

especially as hundreds of small businesses across the country celebrate National 

Travel and Tourism Week, an annual commemoration established 34 years ago in 

legislation signed by President Reagan. 

The mission ofU.S. Travel is to increase travel to and within the United States, which 

altogether yields $2.4 trillion in economic output annually, supports one in nine 

American jobs and makes travel the nation's top service export. According to the SBA, 

the top small-business employer in the United States is the travel-dependent leisure and 

hospitality sector. 

For Virginia, the visitor economy is a $30 billion industry, supporting 7.6 percent of the 

Commonwealth's jobs. In 2016, domestic and international travelers to Virginia spent 

$24.6 billion, generating $3.4 billion in local, state and federal tax revenue. 

As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our signature "Virginia is for Lovers" 

slogan next year, we have been able to position the Commonwealth as one ofthe most 

dynamic, exciting, and authentic destinations in the country. From national seashores 

to mountain parkways to presidential homesteads, Virginia is one ofthe top destinations 

in the United States. 

Last year, our two major international airports and diverse population helped attract one 

million international visitors who spent$1.7 billion during their travels. From restaurants 

and B&Bs, to attractions and tour buses, the resulting economic opportunity for small 

businesses in the travel and tourism industry cannot be overstated. 

In Virginia, there are 1.5 million small business employees: halfofthe state's private 

workforce. Among our20,000 leisure and hospitality establishments. two-thirds are 

businesses with tewer than 20 employees. 
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Some of our success stories are legendary. The famed Inn at Little Washington. in the 

Blue Ridge foothills, opened during the worst snowstorm of the decade in 1978 and is 

now one of the crown jewels ofthe lodging and dining scene. Nestled in an industrial 

neighborhood of Richmond. the llardywood Park Crall Brewery has played a pivotal 

role in the boom of craft beer and wine brands, now with nearly 500 breweries and 

wineries statewide. This $2.7 billion industry provides visitors with a unique and 

authentic culinary travel experience. The 300 percent growth ofagri-tourism since 2000 

is a testimony to the renaissance ofthe New Virginia Economy. 

We are a resilient, self-reliant industry. We recovered faster than any other sector from 

the economic recession. We thrive when we serve the public well by providing safe, 

efficient and enjoyable travel experiences. 

As you well know, we face recurring headwinds relating to access to capital, attracting 

skilled employees and over-regulation that particularly impacts small enterprises. The 

tax legislation recently signed into law by President Trump represents a significant step 

forward in these areas, but more can be done to ensure small businesses have access 

to a talented workforce. 

Ofparticular consequence to the tourism sector, we respectfully urge your support for 

five key issues: 

• Full funding of Brand USA 

• Infrastructure modernization 

• Lifting the cap on the Passenger Facility Charge user fee 

• Protecting U.S. Open Skies agreements 

• Conveying a clear message ofwelcome for international visitors 

My testimony will briefly address our progress and challenges on each ofthesc 

priorities. 

Brand USA 

By attracting international visitors, Brand USA enhances economic growth, spurs job 

creation and advances public diplomacy-a II at no expense to American taxpayers. 

Brand USA's activities are supported by private sector contributions, matched by a $10 

"ESTA" fee on visitors fi·om Visa Waiver Program nations. 

Brand USA was created by the Trave I Promotion Act in 2010 to help address the post9/ll decade of declining U.S. share in the booming global travel market, costing the 

U.S. economy nearly a half-million travel-related jobs. Before then, the United States 

was one of the few developed countries in the world without a national destination 

marketing organization. The Travel Promotion Act, reauthorized in 2014 with large 

congressional majorities, sought to restore our leading position in the highly competitive 

worldwide trave I marketplace. 
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Overseas business and leisure travelers are critical to small businesses across our 

nation. To help attract these visitors, Brand USA has forged working relationships with 

hundreds of communities-large and small, urban and rural--and leveraged their varied 

promotional efforts into a coherent, cost-effective and productive national marketing 

campaign. 

Just last week, Oxford Economics reported that since FY2013, Brand USA's efforts are 

directly responsible for increasing international visitation by an incremcntal5.4 million 

travelers who spent $17.7 billion, generating a total economic impact of$38.4 billion 

and supporting an average of51,580 incrementaljobs per year. 

In addition to marketing the U.S. as a destination, Brand USA is charged with 

communicating our evolving visa and entry policies by addressing confusion about our 

security protocols that can discourage potential visitors from choosing U.S. destinations. 

Brand USA is an extraordinarily successful public-private partnership-and not only for 

gateway cities. Its work has been particularly beneficial for small destinations in Virginia 

with limited marketing resources that can leverage Brand USA's coordinated outreach 

overseas to market their brands in the global marketplace. 

Despite Brand USA's success, we were disturbed to learn the recent budget agreement 

diverted ES TA fees after 2020 a way from Brand USA- putting its funding at risk. The 

return on investment from Brand USA is clear, especially for small businesses, and we 

hope you will join our work to secure and protect the ESTA fee as a key source ofBrand 

USA's funding. 

In fras tructu re Modernization 

It is clear that President Trump has a deep appreciation for the need to modernize the 

nation's infrastructure. Travelers are routinely experiencing holiday-level congestion, 

and the backlog in deferred maintenance is a serious safety concern. 

lfwe finally addressed these problems, the benefits for small tourism businesses would 

be incalculable. In February, U.S. Travel outlined our industry's core infrastructure 

principles. We stressed the need to: enhance national mobility to and within the United 

States; account for non-residential travel demand in federal formula funding; strengthen 

federal investment and promote innovative funding partnerships; and embrace new and 

transformative technologies. 

We support the administration's overall goals to relieve regulatory burdens and 

inccntivize investment in transportation and infrastructure. Without reliable 

infrastructure, small businesses couldn't operate and potential patrons couldn't visit our 

locations. US Travel welcomes the opportunity to work with you and your colleagues in 

Congress to find a way to address our infrastructure needs. 

Passenger Facility Charge 
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A key infrastructure barrier to the travel industry's growth and future competitiveness is 

the poor condition of our nation's airports. Too many of our nation's airports are 

outdated and unable to handle passenger demand. 

The Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) is an indispensable tool for local communities to 

make their own decisions about how to finance airport modernization. Adjusting the 

PFC ceiling would allow each airport authority to tailor its own PFC rate in order to 

maximize efficiency, reduce project costs and ensure fiscal responsibility. 

The PFC cap hasn't been raised in more than 17 years. As we pursue this priority 

further, we would be grateful for your help. 

Open Skies 

Akin to our need to modernize our airport intra structure, we must also preserve more 

than 120 Open Skies agreements that the U.S. has negotiated with countries around 

4 

the world. By reducing government interference in air travel, Open Skies agreements 

have yielded hundreds of thousands of American travel and manufacturing jobs, billions 

of do !Ia rs in U.S. economic growth, lower airfares for tra ve le rs, more flights to airports 

beyond major gateways and new opportunities for U.S. airlines willing to take advantage 

of them. 

Regrettably, just three U.S. airlines have sought to disrupt two existing Open Skies 

agreements, which bring much needed direct international air service to the United 

States. U.S. Travel participates in a diverse coalition ofU.S. passenger and cargo 

airlines, travel businesses, destinations, and others that are opposed to this attack on 

Open Skies . We support preserving the terms ofthese agreements and prioritizing the 

economic benefits they bring to America's broader economy. 

We commend the Administration for its succcssfhl conclusion of government-togovernment discussions with Qatar, which addressed concerns raised by the three U.S. 

carriers and allowed airlines to continue exercising the rights provided under Open 

Skies. Similar talks with the U.A.E. are quietly making progress and we are eager fora 

positive resolution soon that follows the same rramework. In 2016, Gulf carriers to 

Virginia generated $966 million in expenditures, more than IO,OOOjobs and $227 million 

in tax revenue. 

We appreciate your leadership, Chairman Brat, on behalfofincreasing airline options 

and enhancing healthy competition. We look forward to working with you on these 

matters. 

Balancing Security and Travel Facilitation 

Here, allow me to start with an invitation. At 11 a.m. tomorrow on Capitol Hill, the new 

Visit U.S. Coalition will host a briefing-moderated by economic analyst Stephen 

Moore-to document work underway to restore the declining U.S. share ofthe global 
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travel market. Inte rna tiona I arriva Is to the U.S. declined by 2.1 percent and totaled 75.9 

million 

in 2016. In addition to travel firms, many ofwhich are small businesses, the coalition 

also represents other sectors dependent on safe, efficient travel. 

In recent months, the administration has proposed or implemented a battery of new 

policies intended to protect national security, from the president's executive order on 

immigration and travel to stricter vetting ofvisa applications. At US Travelourmoto is 

simple: without security, there can be no travel. 

But there is more to the equation, for us. America needs to convey a clear global 

message that, while we aggressively pursue those threats, we still welcome overseas 

visitors coming here to relax on our beaches or close deals in our boardrooms. 

As specific security proposals have been rolled out over the last few months, travel 

professionals across the country have sought to help federal officials explain and 

implement them. At the same time, we have drawn on our expertise to analyze and 

detail for policymakers how these changes impact the real-life travel experience-with 

particular concern about unnecessarily exacerbating delay, confusion and inefficiency 

for tra ve le rs. 

The international travel marketplace is highly competitive. While the United States is a 

highly attractive destination, foreign travelers have countless other choices. And it is 

clear that one factor in consumer decisions about where to trave I is the perception of a 

potential destination's hospitality. 

Open For Business 

In Virginia and across the nation, the travel community is being challenged on a daily 

basis, but we remain upbeat and optimistic. We're working each day to grow our share 

of the competitive and lucrative international market-while also serving the needs of 

our domestic travelers. Small travel and tourism businesses make up an immense 

share ofVirginia's economy, and our businesses are reliant on domestic and 

international travelers. We hope we can partner with this subcommittee and this 

Congress to promote America's travel and tourism industry by projecting to the globe 

that America is open for business. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in today's hearing. 

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TESTIMONY 

OF 

STEPHEN SHUR 

PRESIDENT 

THE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION 

BEFORE THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, TAXES, 

AND CAPITAL ACCESS 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

HEARING TITLED: 

"TRAVEL AND TOURISM: A SMALL BUSINESS ANGLE" 

MAY 8, 2018 
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12 

***** 

Thank you, Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and all members of the 

subcommittee. I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before this panel, especially 

during National Travel & Tourism Week, as you examine and explore the many ways in 

which small businesses are vitally important to travel and tourism in this country. And, 

in return, how the travel and tourism industry benefits American small businesses. 

My name is Steve Shur and I am president of The Travel Technology Association (or 

Travel Tech). Our membership includes online travel agencies, global distribution 

systems, commonly referred to as GDSs, short-term rental platforms, metasearch sites, 

and travel management companies. Like millions of consumers across the globe, you 

are likely familiar with many of our members, such as Expedia, Priceline.com, 

TripAdvisor, Skyscanner, Airbnb, Amadeus, Sabre, Travel port, American Express Global 

Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit, and BCD Travel. Although our members are diverse 

and make up many different segments of the travel community, the common thread 

throughout the association is the independent distribution of travel. 

While it is true that our members are decidedly not small businesses, I believe they each 

have a story to tell about how their position in the travel marketplace positively affects 

travel and tourism by inspiring visitors from all over the world to venture out of their 

own living rooms and into every corner of the United States. 
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Global Distribution Systems 

Today's GDSs have evolved into dynamic companies providing the technological 

backbone of all phases of travel from search, to purchase, to ticketing and check-in. 

From facilitating real time, automated transactions between suppliers and booking 

agents in order to provide consumers with comprehensive travel tools, to running the 

entire backend technology components of major airlines and hotel chains, these 

technology leaders have truly become invaluable partners in the travel marketplace. 

13 

The technology and data-driven solutions developed by the GDSs help their many 

airline, hotel, and travel agency customers grow their businesses, create jobs, and 

streamline the travel experience for millions, The colossal scale and advanced nature of 

the GDS technology has become unmatched in other industries and vital to the travel 

economy. 

For example, according to our friends at the American Society of Travel Agents, there 

are approximately 9,400 airline-accredited travel agency firms with over 12,000 retail 

locations in the United States, employing over 105,000 full-time travel agents. Yet, 98 

percent of all travel agencies in the U.S. meet the Small Business Administration's 

definition of a small business. In Virginia alone, Mr. Chairman, 70 percent of travel 

agencies employ fewer than five people and 95 percent of them employ fewer than 20. 

And the GDSs have a significant part in the direct economic impact of the travel agency 

industry. The vast majority of travel agencies rely on a GDS, either directly or indirectly, 

for their core business infrastructure for travel search and reservations processing. The 

GDSs give the travel agents the ability to search, compare, and book across thousands of 
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suppliers in real time, handle payment processing and other fulfillment services on 

behalf of clients and suppliers, perform customer service functions such as changes, 

cancellations, and re-issues, and efficiently manage all of this business activity through 

direct data feeds from the GDS to the agency mid- and back-office systems. That a 

single GDS can provide so many services to an agency increases their efficiency. 

Online Travel Agencies and Metasearch Sites 

Our online travel agency (OTA) and metasearch members have created- in just two 

short decades - an entire marketplace where consumers can shop for hotels, flights, car 

rentals, cruises, restaurants, tours, and countless other travel-related activities across 

thousands of brands on a single platform. Travelers from all over the world have 

benefited immeasurably from the ability to search, research, compare, and book travel 

through the highly advanced technological websites and mobile applications created and 

operated by OTAs. 

Online travel agents and metasearch sites inspire people to travel. With clever and 

sophisticated marketing and advertising, OTAs and metasearch sites energize people to 

travel, to visit places they've never been and to explore the country and the world. And 

when they do, small businesses benefit tremendously. 

Research shows that when a traveler hits the road, they generate economic activity, 

often with small businesses: 
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IS 

• OTA guests spend $176 (17.5%) more per trip overall than non-OTA guests. 

Specifically, OTA guests spend $25 (8-4%) more per night and stay 0.3 nights 

(8-4%) longer than non-OTA guests, resulting in higher spending per trip overall. 

• This "OTA spending premium" is evident across different trip purposes, ·with 

OTA guests spending 18.5% more than non-OTA guests during leisure trips, and 

12-4% more during business trips. 

• The OTA spending premium is evident across each category of trip spending. For 

example, OTA guests spend $36 (11.2%) more per trip on lodging, and $32 

(17.5%) more per trip on food and beverage. 

• Over one-fifth (21-4%) of hotel guest travelers use an OTA to book part or all of 

their trip, with a similar share (20.2%) using an OTA in trip planning. 

• OTA guests are slightly younger (41.7 average age) than non-OTA guests (43.9 

average age), vvith a higher concentration of guests in the 25 to 54 age cohort 

(72.0% compared to 61.8%). 

• The household income distribution of OTA guests is broadly similar to that of 

non-OTA guests, with two-thirds of trips being taken by travelers v.ith a 

household income above $so,ooo (65.7% among OTA guests, 66.1% among nonOTA guests). 
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16 

Without our members and the highly-efficient marketplaces that they have established, 

consumers would have to manually visit dozens and dozens of websites and waste 

valuable time in order to make an informed booking decision. Further, when suppliers 

have to compete in a dynamic marketplace, consumers benefit in the form of! ower 

prices and better service offerings. The scale and popularity of third-party online 

booking sites illustrate consumers' preferences for using these efficient, third-party 

aggregators for researching and booking travel: 

• Last year, Expedia helped travelers book over 322 million room nights. 

• TripAdvisor makes up the largest travel community in the world, reaches 340 

million unique monthly visitors, and hosts more than 350 million reviews and 

opinions covering more than 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants, and 

attractions. 

• Priceline.com, celebrating its 2oth anniversary this month, partners with over 

370,000 hotels in 170 countries. 

• Skyscanner helps travelers book more than 2 million flights each month. 

Half of all discretionary travelers visit online travel company websites without a 

destination in mind, providing not just hotels and airlines but cities, states, and even 

countries the opportunity to compete for consumers' hard-earned dollars. Which means 

our members can help shape and influence where a consumer ultimately chooses to 

travel. And for independently-owned hotels, motels, inns, and bed and breakfasts, 

partnering with online travel agents, for the great visibility that they provide, has been a 

game-changer. OTAs give independent hotels the opportunity to compete with the 
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major hotel chains by sho'Aing up in search results right alongside the world's largest 

hotel brands. 

OTAs are trusted by millions to book their travel every single day. These websites and 

applications are safe, effective, and transparent. In fact, the reliability of independent 

booking sites is why hundreds of thousands of hotels, motels, inns, and B&Bs in every 

corner of the U.S. and around the world 'Aillingly and enthusiastically partner 'Aith 

OTAs. 

Short-Term Rental Platforms 

17 

Short-term rental technology companies have created a \i.brant marketplace for 

travelers and property owners, expanding the travel landscape by allo'Aing individuals 

to offer private accommodations and providing economic benefits to communities 

around the world. Vacation rentals have been around for decades, affording families 

access to the beach or hi-coastal business travelers a downtown apartment. As a result 

of our members' innovative approach to travel accommodations, this marketplace has 

grown dramatically in recent years. Today, one in every three leisure travelers has 

stayed in a short-term rental. That is up from one in ten just five years ago. Our 

members boast over four million listings in 191 countries, allo'Aing millions of property 

owners the opportunity to market their residences to travelers. 

Travelers choose short-term rentals for a variety of reasons. Some have larger groups or 

longer stays and a private accommodation is a more affordable option. Others need 

access to a kitchen, laundry, or special needs accommodations. And still more are 
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IS 

traveling to places with limited traditional options. Whatever their reasoning, it's clear 

that millions of travelers are looking to short-term rental platforms for places to stay. 

The benefits of this new economy extend far beyond traveler satisfaction. At their core, 

short-term rental platforms are intermediaries, providing opportunities for 

homeowners and travelers to easily connect \vith one another through trustworthy 

online platforms. By bringing the two together, short-term rental platforms have 

facilitated new opportunities for supplemental income. Owners, operators, and hosts 

can then use that income to cover the mortgage, make needed improvements or repairs, 

or simply make ends meet for their families. Many report that short-term rental income 

has enabled them to stay in their home. 

The economic impact from short-term rentals expands beyond homeowners to local 

businesses and communities. Research shows that access to private accommodations 

has led to more frequent travel overall. Travelers who stay in short-term rentals stay 

longer and spend more, bringing new tourist dollars into the communities beyond the 

traditional downtown tourist areas - areas that previously may not have seen the 

economic impact of travel and tourism. And many travelers report that without access 

to short-term rentals, they would not travel to a destination at all. The economic impact 

of a broader, more diverse traveling public is a valuable asset to any city, town, or 

attraction. Further, because hosts are locals, they often serve as ambassadors to their 

city, directing their guests on where to go and ensuring they have a great stay. 
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19 

Short-term rental platforms are at the cutting edge of technology, and while they 

primarily connect travelers with homeowners looking to rent out their space, they also 

utilize their technology to help in times of crisis. For example, both Airbnb and 

HomeAway deploy emergency response tools, which allow their networks of hosts to 

offer their properties for free or at discounted rates to those evacuating due to natural 

disasters. In the past year, thousands of users have opened their homes to those seeking 

refuge from hurricanes, wildfires, and other events. 

Travel Management Companies 

Travel Management Companies (TMCs) are travel agents that fully manage the business 

travel requirements for individuals, companies, and organizations. As the leading 

experts in travel management, TMCs use innovative technology to help companies save 

time and money. Whether it's finding the best flight and hotel options, sharing local 

information and discounts, or simply keeping employees informed and safe when they 

are on the road, these business travel agents go the extra mile to provide trusted traveler 

care. 

TMCs provide valuable expertise and support to ensure that the companies and 

organizations they serve are getting the most out of every dollar they spend on corporate 

travel. From beginning to end, TMCs are there to help guide company executives 

around the globe through the entire process when booking, executing, and completing a 

trip. 
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110 

Conclusion 

Travel Tech members are the leaders in independent travel distribution and travel 

technology infrastructure enabling multiple distribution points for a wide array of travel 

services. Serving as the technological backbone of global travel, our members are 

catalysts for increased competition, which benefits the traveling public and promotes 

economic growth. 

The evolution of the travel ecosystem has seen travel technology companies assume an 

irreplaceable position in the marketplace. Travel Tech members not only provide 

consumers with the ability to compare the all-in cost of the ever-growing bundle of 

travel options, but - in a larger sense - the technology and data-driven solutions 

developed by travel technologists have helped their many airline, hotel, and travel 

agency customers grow their businesses, create jobs, and transform the travel 

experience for millions. The colossal scale and advanced nature of this technology is 

unmatched in other industries and is vital to the travel - indeed the entire U.S. 

economy. 

Travel Tech is proud to represent such a broad and vital industry that has been helping 

consumers, suppliers, large businesses, small businesses, and countless other entities in 

the travel marketplace grow, thrive, and prosper. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today, and I look forward to your 

questions. 

***** 
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Travel and Tourism: A Small Business Angle 

House Small Business Committee 

Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access 

Tuesday, May 8, 2018; 11:00 A.M.; 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building 

Cam Brensinger, Founder and CEO, NEMO Equipment, Inc 

Outdoor Industry Association Board Member 

Congressman Dave Brat, Chair, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access 

Congressman Dwight Evans, Ranking Member, Small Business Subcommittee on Economic 

Growth, Tax, and Capital Access 

Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and members of the committee, thank you for having 

me here today and for your interest in the small business angle of travel and tourism. 

I am here proudly representing a small business that is based in the great state of New Hampshire 

and that is dedicated to and supported by America's unique and unwavering spirit of adventure, 

travel, and tourism. 

My story begins on a 6,288' glacier-carved chunk of granite, just a short distance from a sign that 

reads "Home to the Worst Weather on Earth." I was 25 years old and a senior at the Rhode 

Island School of Design, studying industrial design. I was also working part-time at MIT, funded 

by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, helping to develop a better spacesuit for human 

exploration of Mars. This particular Friday night in 2002, I was undertaking research, so to 

speak, for my senior project at RISD which was to start an outdoor gear company, a company 

focused on making better equipment for adventures like this one. 

It was late winter and the weather on Mt. Washington was characteristically brutal. My plan was 

to ice climb Pinnacle Gully the next day and I wanted to spend the night near the base of the 

climb, about halfway up the mountain, for an early start. But the weather turned ugly and I didn't 

make it far before I was forced to bivy. A bivy is a limp, waterproof bag designed to let you 

place your sleeping bag directly in the snow and keep it dry. It's an expedient solution, but a 

miserable experience. I spent all night trying to keep the wind and snow out of the bag while not 

suffocating inside, which is to say 1 laid awake all night thinking about what a terrible piece of 

industrial design bivy bags are and how there must be a better solution. 

The next day, my friend and I completed the ice climb and I headed straight back to my studio at 

RISD to start working on a better lightweight shelter. Soon after, in April of 2002, I incorporated 

my new company, NEMO Equipment. The name, originally conceived as New England 

Mountain Outfitters, is a tribute to my New England roots and also a nod to a great adventurer 

and engineer: Jules Verne's, Captain Nemo. 

Design is central to the NEMO ethos, and we are committed to new ideas that improve the 

experience of adventure and allow for travel to some of the most remote and extreme places in 

America and around the world. Our ideas for new products, therefore, begin with having real 

adventures-getting outside, getting dirty, climbing high, traveling far, and sleeping outside as 
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much as we possibly can. These ideas turn into sketches back at our office in Dover-and 

quickly into prototypes that are put through the toughest tests to make sure they perform 

flawlessly. Our aim is to propel our customers' explorations, near and far, big and small. 

Today, NEMO has grown to a well-known, award-winning international brand of gear for 

outdoor adventures. NEMO products are sold in 19 countries around the world, with significant 

market share in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and a growing presence in Europe. We own more 

than 50 pending and awarded patents and trademarks. We've been featured on the Discovery 

Channel, named by Time magazine as among the best inventions of the year, and received 

multiple international awards for product design. Our products are used by families for camping 

weekends, professional mountaineers attempting first ascents, and by the top echelon of 

American Special Operations Forces. 

For 16 years, as our team has grown to 23 people at our headquarters, and surpassed 25 million 

in revenue, we continue to live out the belief that intelligently designed gear enables the 

adventures that Jets us be our best selves-humans who are conscious, inspired, connected, and 

mindful. Whether it's rock climbing, casual camping, hunting or fishing, adventure gives us 

purpose and perspective. It makes us humble and proud. We believe meaningful adventures are 

possible for everyone, anywhere. Possible, that is, if you bring the will, the imagination, and the 

right gear. 

And we're not alone in this belief. We share our deep conviction for outdoor adventure with our 

peers in the outdoor industry. 

I am very proud to be here also as a board member of Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). OIA 

is the leading trade group for the outdoor industry. OIA represents more than 1,300 member 

companies, including manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, guides, and outfitters. 

The outdoor industry represents a recreation economy that is $887 billion in annual consumer 

spending with 79 percent of that spending from trips, travel, and tourism. The outdoor recreation 

economy also supports 7.6 million American jobs. We generate $125 billion in local, state, and 

federal tax revenue. And, according to a recent study by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis 

(BEA), the outdoor industry represents 2 percent of the United States Gross Domestic Product 

(GDP). 

Outdoor recreation is BIG business. According to this same government report, outdoor recreation 

is bigger than legal services (1.3 percent ofGDP); agriculture, which includes farming and forestry 

(l percent of GDP); and the extraction industry, which includes mining, oil and gas (1.4 percent 

of GDP). Therefore, if you want to grow the U.S. economy, Congress needs to take a look at the 

bourgeoning outdoor recreation sector. The BEA study also demonstrates that the outdoor 

recreation economy is growing faster than the U.S. economy as a whole (outdoor is growing at 3.8 

percent, with the overall economy growing at 2.8 percent). 

The outdoor industry includes big names like REI, The North Face, Cabela's, Patagonia, 

Coleman, and Columbia that were, not so long ago, small businesses like NEMO. In fact, the 

majority ofOIA's member companies are small start-up brands, one-door brick-and-mortar 

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shops, or family-owned guiding operations. But here's what's unique: our diverse and varied 

members are truly committed to working collaboratively and pre-competitively on international 

trade and recreation policy, sustainable business innovation, and encouraging more outdoor 

participation across the nation. We have diverse backgrounds, interests, points-of-view, and 

political persuasions, but we come together around a shared love of the outdoors and a pragmatic 

desire to ensure the long-term health of our industry and the outdoor places that make our 

lifestyles possible. We do this not only to ensure the strength of our own businesses, but to 

protect the uniquely American heritage of natural beauty and adventurous spirit that has defined 

our nation since its inception. 

This is why your committee's work is so important. Many companies, like mine, create high-end 

gear, apparel, equipment, footwear, and even food and beverages for the primary purpose of 

supporting Americans' passion for outdoor travel experiences. 

When you support the small outdoor businesses spread around this country-many of which are 

located in what we call ''gateway communities"-you also bolster the health of those local 

economies. In turn, these healthy communities draw skilled workers seeking a quality oflife 

delivered by proximity and access to the outdoors. And who comes looking for those healthy, 

happy, skilled workers? National and international companies who increasingly recognize that 

salary is only one piece of a modern-day compensation package. As our world becomes flatter 

and large companies no longer need to base their operations in urban centers, small communities 

with strong outdoor infrastructure and easy access to nature are becoming more attractive for 

employers and employees. 

According to CNBC's 2017 ranking of Top States for Business, my home state ofNew 

Hampshire ranks sixth nationally in terms of quality of life, which "is particularly important 

because the most sought-after workers in today's economy look at more than just a paycheck 

when picking places of employment." Likewise, a 2015 article in Green Biz noted that "for 

today's companies, nature is a top recruiter." 

Accessibility to the outdoors was central to why I headquartered my company in New 

Hampshire. Having great hiking, hunting, fishing, surfing, skiing and mountain biking close at 

hand is critical for inspiration, for R&D, and for brand authenticity. It was an important part of 

our being named among the I 0 best companies to work for in New Hampshire in 2017. And we 

even build the outdoors into our hiring process, often supplementing traditional interviews with 

candidates by taking a hike or going for a mountain bike ride. People are more relaxed and more 

themselves when they're outdoors, especially if they're having fun! 

But it's not just in rural or small communities where we're seeing this trend. Increasingly bigcity companies are incorporating outdoor culture into their corporate values. The same GreenBiz 

article from 2015 notes: "More companies are bringing nature to cities and to office campuses," 

pointing to Facebook's Menlo Park, California, campus which "features the green roof to end all 

green roofs, a half-mile walking loop, over 400 trees, and is the length of seven football fields." 

Beyond corporate campuses, small towns and big cities are beginning to recognize the value and 

the draw of recreation infrastructure. Whether it's world-class mountain biking trails or 

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neighborhood pocket parks, access to the outdoors contributes to our quality of life. Modest 

investments in outdoor infrastructure can transfonn communities and drive economic growth in 

ways that are blind to age, gender, race or politics. A deeply wired satisfaction in being outdoors 

is one thing every human being shares. 

And according to OlA's most recent rep01t, the first of its kind to issue economic data at the 

congressional district level, every community and every state in the country has a viable outdoor 

recreation economy. Chairman Brat, constituents in your district spend $1 ,484,417,588 on 

recreation alone each year. Ranking Member Evans, your constituents spend $887,871,305 on 

recreation each year. Both districts are made up of consumers focusing on camping, trail sports, 

and fishing. 

Those economies, like any, need infrastructure. Outdoor recreation infrastructure includes public 

open spaces-from New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest, home ofMt. 

Washington, to New York's Washington Square Park to the Washington Monument on the 

National Mall-where we can have life-changing big adventures or meaningful everyday small 

ones. It includes well-maintained roads and trails by which to access those places, clean water 

for fishing, paddling, playing and drinking. 

Consistent, reliable funding that builds and maintains the places we recreate, the roads and 

bridges that gets us to where we recreate, and that supports the men and women who work as 

stewards of those places is paramount. This is why it is so critical that our federal and local 

governments continue to invest in our public lands and waters and outdoor recreation 

infrastructure, whether it's our spectacular national parks that draw people from around the 

world, the paved bike paths we use to get to and from work, or the local playground where we 

take our kids every weeknight after dinner. 

As you know, the landmark Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a mechanism that is 

intended to pay for everything from trail maintenance to river restoration and from visitor centers 

to RV hookups at campgrounds, without drawing a penny rrom Americans' pockets. 

Unfortunately, LWCF, which receives revenue from offshore energy royalty payments, not tax 

dollars, it is rarely fully funded. Dollars intended for outdoor recreation projects get siphoned for 

other means, and our public lands and waters are chronically shortchanged. And, of course, that 

lack of funding doesn't just affect places, it affects people's hard-earned vacations and 

neighborhood parks. 

We ask that Congress ensure these recreation opportumttes continue to be provided for the 

American heritage they represent, and the endless business growth opportunities outdoor 

recreation supports. Supporting reauthorization and full funding for the Land and Water 

Conservation Fund would be a good start, as this program has benefited every county in the country 

and is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. Investing in our public lands and waters is 

important so that entrepreneurs like myself can continue to create companies and jobs around the 

healthy and sustainable outdoor industry and the travel and tourism it drives. 

When people hear "travel and tourism," they may think of seasonal, low-skilled service workers. 

But that misses a huge segment of the workforce and the businesses intrinsically linked to the 

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travel sector. NEMO might be a small, local business, but we and companies like us who supply 

the gear and apparel people need when they go on adventures have complex global supply chains 

that bring our high-tech, innovative products to market at the best prices. American businesses 

like mine provide coveted and high-paying engineering, design, marketing, advertising, 

financial, and sales jobs. The research, design, development, and testing of these products and 

their inputs-not to mention sourcing, logistics, and compliance-happen in the United States. 

My small company, for example, employees a Harvard PhD, a former Apple designer, the former 

head of digital marketing from Ben & Jerry's and other talented and hard-working Americans 

typical of the people in this country driving our economy forward and keeping us competitive on 

the global stage. 

Many of the less desirable manufacturingjobs, however, like sewing and assembly have, since 

the 1990's moved abroad in search of an available and willing labor force. Which means 

companies like mine wind up paying high tariffs to bring our finished goods back into the 

country. In fact, outdoor companies pay disproportionately high taxes. While the average 

inbound tariff is Jess than 3 percent, the average tariff on outdoor products is 14 percent and 

can be as high as 40 percent. Outdoor product manufacturers pay approximately $750 million 

annually in import taxes to the U.S. Treasury. 

However, the outdoor industry is one of the few sectors where America is positioned as a global 

leader of innovation and high-tech advancements. American brands are many of the most revered 

and dominant in the global outdoor market. Countless of the watershed innovations in outdoor 

equipment have been invented by our companies: Gore-Tex waterproof/breathable fabric, the 

mountain bike, the snowboard, fleece jackets, hydration packs, fiberglass surfboards, and much 

more. My own company has created many firsts, including: the first air-supported backpacking 

tents, the first swinging and auto-reclining camp chairs, the first foot-pump pressurized camp 

shower, and much more. Today our industry is leading in the development ofsustainably produced 

textiles, materials and apparel, and our American brands are on the cutting edge of these 

developments. 

Duty relief on outdoor products not manufactured domestically can help lower costs, fuel 

innovation, and get more Americans outdoors. We ask for your support of the U.S. OUTDOOR 

Act that allows for more innovation by American companies, while protecting our industries' 

domestic manufacturers. 

Americans love the outdoors. Over half of all Americans enjoy outdoor activities every year, 

whether close to home or at faraway, iconic places. The outdoor recreation economy is resilient 

and is growing faster than the economy as a whole. My business is just one example of the 

thousands of companies that are choosing to base their businesses, of any type, near access to the 

outdoors. As a business owner dedicated to my employees and my industry, I want other businesses 

to have the same opportunities to provide their employees with a healthy lifestyle and be part of 

active and thriving communities. 

I am here today wearing many hats. I come with the perspective of a small business entrepreneur, 

but one who works closely with a national trade organization. I am an adventurer who finds 

meaning, health, happiness, and my American identity in the outdoor places that are so unique to 

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this nation. But I'm also a businessman, an employer, a job provider, and taxpayer. I'm a 

backpacker and a hunter. A husband and a father. As all of those things, and on behalf of my 

colleagues, my competitors, my friends, and my family, I want to thank you for the work you do 

to support the people, places and infrastructure that make outdoor adventure possible and form a 

major component of our country's travel and tourism industry. 

Thank you for your attention to this important issue, and I hope this testimony will assist you as 

your committee explores this topic. 

Cam Brensinger 

Founder and CEO 

NEMO Equipment, Inc 

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"Travel and Tourism: A Small Business Angle" 

House Committee on Small Business 

Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access 

Testimony of Jagruti Panwala 

Vice Chairwoman 

AAHOA 

May 8, 2018 

I. Introduction 

Chairman Brat, Ranking Member Evans, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to testify before you today. It is an honor to appear before Congress and to 

represent my fellow hoteliers and the hospitality industry. 

My name is Jagruti Panwala. My family and I are small business owners from Pennsylvania. We 

are independent owners and operators of five hotels in the northeastern United States and I am also 

the president and CEO of a financial planning company that helps small business owners, including 

hoteliers, to reach their development goals. 

I also serve as the national Vice Chairwoman of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association 

(AAHOA). AAHOA represents 18,000 members who own nearly 50 percent of all hotels in the 

United States, and employ over 600,000 workers, accounting for nearly $10 billion in payroll 

annually. AAHOA proudly serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Travel Association and as 

a member of the Visit US Coalition, organizations that are leading the effort expand travel and 

tourism within and to the United States. 

II. Economic Impact of the Travel and Tourism Industry 

Thank you for convening this hearing on the travel and tourism industry. It is particularly fitting 

to have this discussion during National Travel and Tourism Week, a celebration of the impact of 

travel and tourism on the American economy. 

Our industry is one of the major factors driving economic expansion, job creation, exports, and 

prosperity in the United States. From family vacations, to business conferences and meetings, to 

international visitors, the travel and tourism sector reaches nearly every comer of the country and 

is a top ten industry in nearly every state. 

I am very pleased to report that the economic condition of the America's travel and tourism sector 

is strong and trends indicate a positive future. Many of the economic factors that are hallmarks of 

success in the travel industry, including low unemployment, and high business and consumer 

confidences, are also indicative of a healthy national economy. 
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According to the U.S. Travel Association's Current Travel Index (CTI), the industry is in its ninth 

consecutive year of expansion and has been expanding for "98 straight months." 1 Growth in travel 

and tourism is excellent news for the American economy, as it accounts for $2.4 trillion in 

economic output. Last year, travelers spent over $1,036 billion, and supported 15.6 million 

American jobs. American workers directly employed in the travel industry earned nearly $260 

billion in wages and the federal, state, and local governments collected $165 billion in tax 

revenues. 2 The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that travel and tourism accounted for 

2.6 percent of the nation's GOP in 2017 and forecasts growth in the sector over the next ten years.3 

Domestic travel, which accounts for 80 percent of all travel spending,4 rose by 28.7 million trips, 

a 1.3 percent increase in 2017, and leisure travelers are the principal drivers of the industry.5 In the 

lodging sector, the "[T]otal U.S. room demand is higher than it has ever been," and in 2017, hotels 

sold 1.23 billion room nights, an increase of2.7 percent from 2016, according to STR, the leading 

research company monitoring industry trends.6 Similarly, occupancy, average daily rate, and 

revenue per available room, the leading economic metrics for hoteliers, are expected to increase 

through 2018. 7 

Ill. Small Business Contributions 

For small business owners like the vast majority of AAHOA members, this is amazing news! 

Small businesses account for 83 percent of companies in the industryB and we are both driving and 

seeing the benefits of a robust economy and thriving travel sector. In addition to the economic 

benefits travel and tourism businesses contribute to their communities, small business owners are 

directly responsible for creating jobs, training employees, and reinvesting capital locally. In fact, 

"the number one small-business employer in the United States is the travel-dependent leisure and 

hospitality sector."9 Forty percent of workers who begin their careers in travel, ultimately achieve 

1 "Travel Trends Index." U.S. Travel Association. February 2018. 

https://www. ustravel.org/system/files/media _root/document/Research_ Travel-Trends-lndex.pdf 2 "U.S. Travel Answer Sheet." U.S. Travel Association. Updated April 2018. 

https:l/www. ustravel.org/system/fi les/media _root/ document/Research __ Fact -Sheet_ US-Travei-Answer-Sheet.pdf 3 "Travel and Tourism: Economic Impact 2018, United States." World Travel & Tourism Council. March 2018. 

ttps://www. wttc .org/-/mediaifi les/reports/economic-impact -research/countries-20 l8/unitedstates20 18, pdf 4 "Travel and Tourism: Economic Impact 2018, United States." World Travel & Tourism Council. March 2018. 

https://www. wttc.org/-/media/fi les/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-20 I 8/unitedstates20 18 .pdf 

s "Domestic Travel Market Report, 2017." U.S. Travel Association. February 2018. 

https://www.ustravel.org/research/domestic-travel-market-report-20 17 6 Harpaz, Beth. "Trump slump? International arrivals data may be wrong." Associated Press. April 10, 

20 18.https://apnews.com/a55 80fl5996047a6a2efa3d438754c63 7 Hoisington, Alicia."Continued growth still in the forecast for the hotel industry in 201 8." Hotel Management. 

January 29, 2018. https://www.hotelmanagement.net/own/continued-growth-projected-for-u-s-hotel-industry-20 18 8 "U.S. Travel Answer Sheet." U.S. Travel Association. Updated April 

20 18. https ://www .ustravel .org/system/files/media _root/document/Research_ Fact -Sheet_ US-Travel-AnswerSheet.pdf 

9 "Travel: America's Unsung Hero of Job Creation." U.S. Travel Association. August 28, 

20 17 .https://www. ustravel.org/system/files/med ia _root/document/Research_ Reports_ Travel-America%27 s-Unsung· 

Hero-of-Job-Creation.pdf 

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salaries over $100,000. 10 In addition, our industry provides a tremendous foundation for employees 

with less formal education, who, when beginning their careers in travel, achieve an average career 

salary of nearly $70,000, five percent higher than in other industries. 11 

IV. Important Issues Facing the Industry 

While the outlook for small business owners in the travel sector and the industry as a whole is 

strong, some challenges and opportunities remain. One of our biggest concerns centers on 

increasing gas prices. As domestic leisure travelers comprise an overwhelming majority of the 

travel market, increases in fuel prices for automobiles and airplanes could increase costs and 

negatively impact the ability for people to travel, affect their chosen destinations, or shorten the 

duration of their visits. History has shown us that increases in gas prices limit available 

discretionary income and consumers cut back on some activities including travel. 

Another area we are watching closely is the trend of international arrivals to the United States. 

International travel is our largest service export. While conventionally it may seem strange to 

categorize tourism to the United States as an export, international visitors spend hundreds of 

billions of dollars on travel and tourism and each foreign visitor spends nearly $4,500 and stays 

J 8 nights per visit. 12 The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) within the Department of 

Commerce had indicated a dip in international visitors dating back a couple of years. Some 

industry analysts believed the strengthening of the dollar discouraged travel to AmericaY 

Recently however, the NTTO announced it is reviewing its analysis as millions of visitors may 

have been undercounted. 14 We are eagerly following this development and encourage our 

congressional leaders to do so as well to ensure the data we use to make business decisions is 

sound and reliable. 

International visitors to the United States are critical for our national economy, our workforce, and 

our local communities. Consequently, I would ask our leaders to review two important programs: 

Brand USA and the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Brand USA, a unique public-private partnership 

promoting the United States as a destination for foreign travelers at zero cost to American 

taxpayers. Since 2013, Brand USA has encouraged millions of international visitors to come to 

the United States, which has generated nearly $40 billion in revenues, and supports over 50,000 

Americanjobs. 15 The program is funded through fees levied on international visitors and in 2017 

produced a return on investment of more than 27: l. [tis a remarkably successful program for both 

10 Mohn, Tanya. "Surprise Career is 'Unsung Hero."' Forbes. September 4, 2017. 

https://www. forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/20 17/09/04/surprise-career-is-unsung-hero/#6dfl a 12b5c4b 11 "Travel: America's Unsung Hero of Job Creation." U.S. Travel Association. August 28, 2017. 

https://www .ustravel.org/system/ files/media _root/document/Research_ Reports_ Travel-A merica%27s-UnsungHero-of.Job-Creation.pdf 

12 "U.S. Travel Answer Sheet." U.S. Travel Association. Updated April 2018. 

https:l/www. ustravel.org/system/filcs/media _root/ document/Research_ Fact -Sheet_ US-Travel-Answer-Sheet.pdf 

l3Jainchill, Johanna. "Slump in overseas visitors, the curse of a strong dollar." Travel Weekly. September 11, 2017. 

http://www. travelweekly .com/North-America-Travel/$ lump-in-overseas-visitors-the-curse-of-a-strong-do liar 14 "Data Suspension FAQs." National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/rescarch/datasuspension.asp 

""The Return on Investment of Brand USA Marketing: Fiscal Year 20 17."April 2017. Oxford Economics. 

https://www.thebrandusa.com/research-analytics/roi-study 

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