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TOURISM IN AMERICA: 

MOVING OUR ECONOMY FORWARD 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS, 

INNOVATION, AND EXPORT PROMOTION 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, 

SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

NOVEMBER 17, 2011 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

( 

(II) 

SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

BARBARA BOXER, California 

BILL NELSON, Florida 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

MARK WARNER, Virginia 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking 

OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine 

JIM DEMINT, South Carolina 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada 

ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director 

JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director 

BRUCE H. ANDREWS, General Counsel 

TODD BERTOSON, Republican Staff Director 

JARROD THOMPSON, Republican Deputy Staff Director 

REBECCA SEIDEL, Republican General Counsel and Chief Investigator 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS, INNOVATION, AND EXPORT 

PROMOTION 

AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota, Chairman 

JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

MARK PRYOR, Arkansas 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

MARK WARNER, Virginia 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Ranking 

JIM DEMINT, South Carolina 

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on November 17, 2011 ...................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 1 

Statement of Senator Blunt .................................................................................... 3 

Statement of Senator Begich .................................................................................. 4 

Statement of Senator Heller ................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 

Statement of Senator Rockefeller ........................................................................... 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 

Statement of Senator Thune ................................................................................... 25 

WITNESSES

Ken Hyatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services, U.S. Department of 

Commerce ............................................................................................................. 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 

David T. Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services, U.S. Department of State ........................................................................................................ 10 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 

James P. Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Brand USA ......................................... 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 29 

John F. Edman, Director, Explore Minnesota Tourism ........................................ 31 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 

Jonathan Zuk, President, Amadeo Travel Solutions/Vice Chairman, Receptive 

Services Association of America .......................................................................... 34 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 36 

Jonathan Tisch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Loews Hotels and 

Chairman Emeritus, U.S. Travel Association .................................................... 38 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 

APPENDIX

Hon. Tom Udall, U.S. Senator from New Mexico, prepared statement .............. 51 

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., prepared statement ...................... 51 

National Retail Federation, prepared statement .................................................. 53 

United States Tour Operator Association, prepared statement .......................... 55 

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to: 

James P. Evans ................................................................................................ 56 

John F. Edman ................................................................................................. 57 

Jonathan Zuk .................................................................................................... 57 

Jonathan Tisch ................................................................................................. 58 

(1) 

TOURISM IN AMERICA: 

MOVING OUR ECONOMY FORWARD 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011 

U.S. SENATE, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMPETITIVENESS, INNOVATION, AND

EXPORT PROMOTION, 

COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:34 p.m. in room 

SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Amy Klobuchar, 

Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Good afternoon. We’ll call this hearing to 

order. 

I want to thank all the witnesses that are here from all over the 

country for this important discussion about tourism and the impact 

on our economy. 

Coming from Minnesota, tourism is the fifth largest industry in 

our state. Tourism is about so much more, as we all know, than 

hospitality. It’s about jobs. I’m reminded of this every day. 

When I’m in my state, I always ask people how much do they 

think that visiting fishermen spend on bait and worms in our state. 

I bet you don’t know, Senator Blunt, every year how much they 

spend on worms. 

Senator BLUNT. I was just hoping they got a lot of their tackle 

from Bass Pro in Springfield, Missouri. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. No, but they spend $50 million a year on 

worms, just to give you a sense of what tourism means in terms 

of economic activity in our state. I think we all know that tourism 

is an industry where the jobs are right here in America. 

That’s why Senator Blunt and I called this hearing today because 

we believe there are things we can do to build on the already 

strong numbers in the tourism sector and to make sure that we 

strengthen the industry even more. There are a lot of good ideas 

out there and we want to discuss a few common sense solutions, 

simple fixes that can expand our country’s tourism sector at no cost 

to taxpayers. 

We’ve always had a very bipartisan approach to this Subcommittee and we’ll continue to do that, and that’s how we’re producing some results. 

2 

One of the things we focused on is international tourism. Every 

international foreign visitor to our country spends an average of 

$4,000. 

Sadly, since 9/11, we’ve lost 16 percent of the international tourism business. Every point that we lost was about 160,000 jobs. Just 

last year, we’ve seen some great improvements which we’re excited 

about and we want that trend to continue. 

One of the things that we’ve focused on is the visa wait times. 

Senator Blunt and I introduced a bill to help with that and we 

worked with the State Department on the language to get that 

done. 

Just to give you a sense, for a person in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 

it takes 90 days to get an interview for a visa. 

If that same tourist wants to go to the United Kingdom, the entire visa application process takes an average of 12 days. So when 

you look at those numbers if you’re someone who’s planning a trip 

with your family to the United States and you want to go to see 

the Golden Arches in St. Louis, right—what? 

Senator BLUNT. Not exactly the Golden Arches. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. What are they called again? 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BLUNT. I’ll take the Happy Meal. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. The Arch. OK. Well, it’s like golden. Oh, 

that would be McDonald’s. 

Senator BLUNT. Yes. That’s the Happy Meal. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. If you want to see the Arch. I was trying to make it sound even—OK, just stop it. If you want to see 

Mount McKinley in Alaska that would be correct. 

Senator BLUNT. Mount Denali, yes. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BLUNT. I’m just harassing her. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. If you want to see the bright lights of Las 

Vegas that would be correct, you would be—have to choose between 

a very long wait of 90 days or if you want to simply go to London 

it takes only 12 days. 

And so that’s why we are so focused on this idea of improving 

the wait times. We’ve been working with the State Department and 

I know they have someone here today so we’re going to be hearing 

from them. 

We also would like to do more things to make it easier to get 

those visas done. The bill that we have gives the State Department 

an economic incentive for increasing the efficiency. 

It allows the Secretary of State to grant a waiver of up to an additional 3 years, 4 years total, so that foreign tourists can renew 

their visas without having to jump through the hoops of another 

in-person interview and it would increase accountability at the 

State Department, requiring the agency to provide reports on its 

use of data from the Commerce Department. 

That way we know the agency is actually looking at the numbers 

and thinking about the economic impact of its policies on tourism 

and our economy. 

Another way to cut back on visa wait times would be to hire 

more temporary consular officers. We know that the State DepartVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
3 

ment is doing that. We also know, are conscious of the government 

budget right now, that they’re actually a profit center, not a cost 

center. Because of the visa fees, they actually make money for the 

government. 

I also think it’s worth considering changes to the visa waiver program which allows citizens from certain countries to visit the U.S. 

without a visa. Those are just a few of the ideas that you’re going 

to see, some of them in our legislation, some of them discussed 

today. 

But we’re truly excited to have this hearing. I see tourism as the 

major export of our country. We have to start viewing it that way. 

We know people love to take trips but it’s more than that. It’s really about a competitive agenda for this country where we are supplying the jobs, where we have people visiting our country instead 

of our people visiting others. 

We like when they visit other countries but the point of it is 

there is a lot to gain here with jobs. 

I turn it over to my Ranking Member, Senator Blunt. 

STATEMENT OF HON. ROY BLUNT, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSOURI 

Senator BLUNT. Well, thank you, Chairman, and Chairman Klobuchar is a great advocate for these issues and great to work with, 

and I am pleased to be able to be doing so many things with her 

in this area. 

You know, the United States has a lot to offer as a place to come 

and we have a lot to see and a lot to do and we need to take even 

greater advantage of that. A million jobs, just to meet the needs 

of foreign travelers alone. This is a place where people like to come. 

They stay longer. They buy more. 

Foreign travelers are good for us and at the end of the day they 

like us a lot better. And so many of you have heard me say over 

and over again this has an international component to it that’s well 

beyond the economic component but the economic component is 

pretty good. 

I see Jim Evans here who is heading the newly named Brand 

USA, formerly referred to as the Corporation for Travel Promotion. 

But Jim is here and is going to be talking about what they’re doing 

with this new concept where we encourage travelers and hopefully 

get back to where we were before 9/11 in terms of our percentage 

of foreign travelers and then exceed that number. 

We use a lot of different numbers in Washington. The number 

somebody gave me the other day was 36. Thirty-six foreign travelers equal one full-time U.S. job, and both in trade and travel are 

the real opportunities, I think, for us to grow jobs and to grow 

them in the quickest possible segments if we’ll just do what we 

need to do there. 

We’re pleased to have Mr. Donahue with us from the State Department. We’re talking about the delays that the Chairman has 

already mentioned and what we can do about those delays. 

I was in Beijing earlier this year meeting with people at the embassy who were dealing with those long lines of people and came 

back with a couple of ideas that we’ve been able to talk with our 

4 

friends at State about and they well aware of the kinds of things 

we could do. 

And so Senator Klobuchar and Mr. Donahue and Mr.—others in 

the State Department and I and our staffs have been working 

closely together and are going to be working hard to get legislation 

passed that allows us to meet the needs of foreign travelers in a 

better way. 

Mr. Hyatt from Commerce well knows the importance of foreign 

travel to our economy and we look forward to his comments. The 

Chairman sometimes says that this is not just the low—the travel’s 

not just—foreign travel is not just the low-hanging fruit, it’s the 

fruit that we’ve already let drop to the ground, and we need to be 

sure that we’re doing a better job getting people at the moment 

they’re thinking about where they want to go and being sure 

they’re thinking about coming to the United States and then doing 

what we need to to make that a doable thing that doesn’t send 

them in some other direction because of the frustration and difficulties that they face if we can do things about that. 

This is an important opportunity. It’s an important time and 

we’re glad that all of the members of both panels are here and I 

look forward to—what you have to say and asking some questions, 

and again, Chairman, thanks for working with me and for leading 

here and putting this hearing together. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Senator Blunt. 

We have Senator Begich here. I don’t know if you want to say 

a few words from the beautiful state of Alaska that has many Minnesotans there. It looks like Minnesota except it has mountains. 

And I would also like to note one of the—— 

Senator BEGICH. It’s 39 below zero. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Yes, OK. One of the founding—one of the 

founding Chairs of our Tourism Caucus, Senator Begich. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and 

thank you for the great panels that are—not only the first one but 

the second one also. I’m going to be anxious to hear the conversation how we increase foreign travel. In Alaska, it’s 15 percent of 

our market is foreign travel and we see the huge economic bang 

out of it every time a foreign traveler hits our soils. 

For Alaska, it’s a $2 billion industry with about 40,000 people 

employed in it in this last year and I can tell you it’s not only from 

a broader public policy perspective but a family that’s in the tourism business. We see it from a variety of ends and we saw 2011 

slow growth but growth, which was a good sign. 

I think nationally almost 100,000 jobs this last year in 2011 were 

added in the tourism industry, which is a good thing. 

But the other piece—I’ll just end on this and look forward to the 

questions and answer period—and that is to me the tourism industry, especially with our foreign travelers, is not just about the economic opportunity. People in the tourism industry are really our 

ambassadors to the world. 

5 

When those foreign travelers hit the soil, they’re going to be at 

a hotel. They’re going to be at restaurant. They’re going to be coming through the airport. 

How we treat them, how we work with them, how we give them 

an experience that’s exciting and rewarding that they want to come 

back is powerful for us but also when they go back to their home 

country it is a message that they’re going to take back that America, United States, is a great place to visit and has incredible opportunity. 

So thank you, Madam Chair, for putting this hearing together 

and I look forward to the conversation and I’m looking forward especially to this panel on how we increase visa capacity, and to the 

second panel some of the questions I’ll have is around what kind 

of infrastructure are we going to need, what do we need to support 

this incredibly growing industry that really is economic but also 

international for us. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Senator Heller? 

STATEMENT OF HON. DEAN HELLER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA 

Senator HELLER. Thank you. I have a opening statement that I’d 

just like to submit for the record just for a matter of time. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. It will be submitted. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Senator Heller follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DEAN HELLER, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA

I want to thank my colleagues for holding this important hearing today which 

highlights an issue I fight for every day: JOBS. In Nevada, having a strong tourism 

industry means more jobs in my state. Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno have long 

been a favorite recreation destination for millions of visitors both domestically and 

more increasingly internationally. The entire Southern Nevada economy is heavily 

dependent on the hotel, gaming and convention industry, which employs over onequarter of the region’s labor force. Plain and simple, tourism is the lifeblood for 

businesses and job creation in Nevada. 

The viability of the economy in Nevada is dependent upon the volume of visitors 

to our state. Last year 37 million visitors came to Las Vegas alone. With one quarter to go, an estimated 29.5 million people have visited in 2011, 4.7 percent ahead 

of the 2010 pace. A large volume of visitors come because Las Vegas continues its 

reign as the number one trade show destination in North America. Las Vegas hosts 

thousands in meetings and conventions annually and generates billions in revenue. 

Contrary to what some may say, Las Vegas is the preeminent location for businesses and trade associations to hold their conventions and shows. 

Also important is the fact that foreign travelers are a growing segment of visitors 

to Nevada and Las Vegas. In 2006, 13 percent of travelers were from outside the 

United States. In 2010 that number has risen to 18 percent. I appreciate Chairwoman Klobuchar and Ranking Member Blunt working with me on legislation that 

would update and improve the visa application process overseas, especially in China 

and Brazil. This effort will help bring more visitors to the United States and create 

new employment opportunities immediately. 

Right now Nevada leads the Nation in unemployment at 13.4 percent. It is my 

hope that we can continue our bipartisan efforts and push for new initiatives that 

spur growth in the tourism industry. Fostering more domestic and international 

tourism is not a Democrat or Republican issue, it is an American issue. Thank you 

Chairwoman Klobuchar and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. 

Senator HELLER. And if I may also just make a couple of quick— 

I’m still trying to get my arms around this $15 million in worms. 

If we’re—— 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. That would be $50 million. 

6 

Senator HELLER. Fifty? 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, you have to include bait too, actually. 

Senator HELLER. All right. All right. 

Some facts, as we talked about facts here, in Las Vegas, you 

know, we take in almost $9 billion in gross gaming revenue every 

year and the average visitor gambles when they come to Las Vegas 

about 3 hours a day, and 80 percent of the visitors say that when 

they—that they gambled during their stay. 

And, obviously, things changed after 9/11. But it does appear 

that there’s some improvement. I’m just looking at some of the recent statistics that southern Nevada tourism has continued a 

steady climb. In their—Las Vegas Convention Visitor Authority announced a 5.5 percent increase in visitation over September. 

So we are making some improvements. Things are moving in the 

right direction. Number of passengers getting off the plane in Las 

Vegas at the McCarran Airport was up 8.2 percent and that’s good 

news. The bad news is that the number of cars used on major highways was down 2.2 percent. That’s not your problem. I’m trying to 

get more people to get off of planes. 

So anyway, we’re making movement in the right direction but, 

clearly, visitations—I don’t have to tell anybody in this hearing 

today how important, critically important, tourism is for the state 

of Nevada, not just in southern Nevada but also Reno, Lake Tahoe 

and some of those areas. 

So I just appreciate the Chairman and the Ranking Member 

working together on this kind of legislation that’s going to be beneficial not only for the state of Nevada but for the country as a 

whole. So thanks for allowing me to be part of it. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, very good. Thank you, and I should 

also note Senator Heller is a member of the Tourism Caucus as 

well and of this Subcommittee. So thank you very much. 

I know that Senator Rockefeller is going to stop by but I think 

we’ll get started with our witnesses. I’m going to introduce both of 

you and they both represent two of the departments tasked with 

increasing international tourism still keeping in mind, of course, 

the importance of national security. 

Ken Hyatt is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services at the 

Department of Commerce where he directs the Department’s efforts to enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. services industries 

including travel and tourism. 

Mr. David Donahue is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa 

Services at the Department of State. Mr. Donahue has been with 

the State Department for quite some time. He has been on the 

front lines as a consular officer in various postings around the 

world and is intimately familiar with the challenges faced by our 

consular officers overseas. 

I would also note that I used the statistic in Brazil but I’m sure 

as you’ll share with us we have seen some improvements, especially during the past year in the visa wait times, particularly in 

China, and we’d like that trend to continue and we really thank 

you for the efforts, about your effort and Mr. Tom Nides’ from the 

State Department. 

I think we’ll start with Mr. Hyatt. Thank you. 

7 

STATEMENT OF KEN HYATT, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY 

FOR SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Mr. HYATT. Thank you. 

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, distinguished 

members of the Subcommittee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify about the importance of travel and tourism to the 

U.S. economy and the progress the Commerce Department is making in implementing the Travel Promotion Act. 

The Obama Administration is keenly aware of the critical importance of travel and tourism to our economy and creating jobs. Because the infrastructure is already in place, an increase in travel 

and tourism exports can lead to additional jobs more quickly than 

in many other industries. 

In the United States, travel and tourism was a $1.1 trillion sector of the economy in 2010, supporting more than 7.5 million American jobs. We estimate that every additional 65 international visitors to the United States generate enough travel and tourism exports to support one additional travel- and tourism-related job. In 

2016, we forecast 22 million more international visitors to the 

United States than in 2010. 

Yet, while the United States is the undisputed global leader in 

revenues generated by travel and tourism exports in absolute 

terms, our share of the world market has declined from 17.3 percent to 11.2 percent in the last decade. 

Therefore, we were encouraged by the passage of the Travel Promotion Act which received broad bipartisan support and was signed 

into law by President Obama last year. 

We were encouraged because, unlike our competitors, the United 

States has not had an official brand campaign to promote travel 

and tourism to our country. The Corporation for Travel Promotion 

established by the Act provides a key opportunity to promote international travel and tourism to the United States and increase its 

contribution to our economy. 

It will also enable us to compete at a level with the well-funded 

and aggressive work carried out by our competitors to attract international travelers to their countries. 

I’m pleased to report that just this month the corporation, which 

will be doing business as Brand USA, unveiled its brand strategy 

to an international audience at the World Travel Market in London. This is an important step in the effort to recapture the lost 

U.S. share of the global travel market. 

As called for in the legislation, Commerce is actively working 

with the corporation to attract more international visitation to the 

United States but our work under the Act is not limited to working 

with the corporation. 

As provided in the Act, the Department of Commerce, through its 

International Trade Administration, is closely collaborating with 

the Departments of State and Homeland Security to improve the 

experience of travelers entering the United States. 

The Department is also working with State, DHS and the White 

House to identify and more effectively communicate the progress 

the Administration is making to address the concerns of the private 

sector. 

8 

We’re working with the Secretary’s private-sector Travel and 

Tourism Advisory Board to understand industry concerns and with 

our interagency partners to develop a culture of interagency collaboration and continual improvement. The Department looks forward to continuing our work to achieve the goals of the Travel Promotion Act. 

We will continue to coordinate through the Tourism Policy Council and with the White House to improve the U.S. entry process 

and to communicate U.S. travel requirements more effectively. This 

work is a top priority for the Administration and through the Tourism Policy Council we will ensure it receives Cabinet-level attention. 

The potential of the Act to create new opportunities for U.S. travel and tourism exports is critical in supporting the President’s National Export Initiative and achieving the President’s job-creation 

objectives. This is an exciting time for the United States to engage 

in the global marketplace. 

With the tools provided by the TPA, the United States is better 

able to proactively compete for international visitors. After all, 

more international visitors means more people eating in our restaurants, staying in our hotels, visiting our attractions, shopping in 

our malls and learning about our extraordinary culture and values. 

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, distinguished 

members of the Subcommittee, thank you again for inviting me to 

testify. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have. 

Senator Rockefeller? 

[Laughter.] 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Hyatt follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KEN HYATT, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

‘‘Travel and Tourism Export Successes: Implementation of the Travel 

Promotion Act of 2009’’ 

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished members of 

the Subcommittee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify about the importance of travel and tourism to the U.S. economy and the progress the Department of Commerce is making in implementing the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. 

I am Ken Hyatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services at the Department of 

Commerce’s International Trade Administration. The news regarding travel and 

tourism is good. I am honored to be here to share this information with you. 

Importance of Travel and Tourism to the U.S. Economy 

The Obama Administration, and specifically the Department of Commerce, is 

keenly aware of the critical importance of travel and tourism to the U.S. economy 

and to job creation in our country. Travel and tourism jobs are found throughout 

the economy and across the country, from hotels and restaurants, to rental car companies and tour operators. Because the infrastructure is already in place, an increase in travel and tourism exports can lead to additional jobs more quickly than 

it does in many other industries. Accordingly, travel and tourism is a priority sector 

under the President’s National Export Initiative and plays a critical role in the Department’s export promotion strategy. In the United States, travel and tourism was a $1.1 trillion sector of the economy 

in 2010, supporting more than 7.5 million American jobs. A record-breaking 60 million international visitors arrived in the United States in 2010, a 17 percent increase over the number of visitors in 2000. These international travelers spent more 

than $134 billion during their visits, a 12 percent increase from 2009. 

Expenditures by international travelers are U.S. exports. We estimate that every 

additional 65 international visitors to the United States generate enough travel and 

tourism exports to support one additional travel and tourism-related job. In 2016, 

we expect 22 million more international visitors than this year. We estimate that 

9 

these additional visitors will spend tens of billions of dollars, supporting hundreds 

of thousands of jobs. In 2010, the United States had a surplus of nearly $32 billion 

in travel and tourism receipts, an increase of 50 percent over the 2009 surplus. 

These figures clearly underscore the importance of travel and tourism to strengthening the U.S. economy. In addition, travel and tourism is a key vehicle/opportunity 

to showcase the United States—its culture, its values, its beauty—to the rest of the 

world. However, while the United States is, in absolute terms, the undisputed global 

leader in revenues generated by travel and tourism exports, our share of the world 

market has declined from 17.3 percent to 11.2 percent in the last decade. 

Implementation of the Travel Promotion Act 

Therefore, we were encouraged by the passage of the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), 

which received broad bipartisan support and was signed into law by President 

Obama on March 4, 2010. We were encouraged because unlike our competitors, the 

United States has not had an official brand campaign to promote travel and tourism 

to our country. The Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP) established by the TPA 

provides a key opportunity to promote international travel and tourism to the 

United States and increase its contribution to our economy, at a level that will enable us to compete with the well-funded and aggressive work carried out by our 

competitors to attract international travelers to their countries. 

I am pleased to report that just this month, the CTP unveiled its brand strategy 

to an international audience at the World Travel Market in London. This is an important step in the effort to recapture the lost U.S. share of the global travel market. 

DOC Support for the TPA and Corporation for Travel Promotion 

The Travel Promotion Act calls for the Department of Commerce to serve as the 

liaison to the CTP and outlines the responsibilities of the Department in this area. 

I am pleased to report to you and the Committee that the Department of Commerce 

has actively supported the implementation of the TPA and continues to work with 

the CTP to ensure that the objectives of the Act can be met. 

To date, Commerce has: 

• Appointed the initial CTP Board of Directors and re-appointed three Board 

members whose term expired in September for a second term; 

• Approved the CTP’s FY2011 objectives, and Commerce is currently working 

with the CTP as the CTP revises and resubmits the FY2012 objectives for approval by the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretaries of 

State and Homeland Security; 

• Worked with the CTP to develop guidelines, benchmarks, and standard operating procedures for the ‘‘in-kind’’ matching contributions, which the act establishes as a precondition for receiving Federal funds in FY 2012–2015; 

• Worked closely with the CTP and the Treasury Department to put in place administrative processes to facilitate the disbursement of funds to the CTP from 

the Travel Promotion Fund at Treasury; and 

• Worked with other Federal agencies to ensure that our agency counterparts are 

apprised of the CTP’s progress and collaborate on ways that we can all connect 

to the new international travel promotion campaign. 

Commerce will continue to work with the CTP on a regular basis to support its 

efforts and monitor its progress in attracting more international visitors to the 

United States and successfully implementing the TPA. 

Travel Facilitation Under the TPA 

Our work under the TPA is not limited to working with the CTP. As provided in 

the Act, the Department of Commerce, through its International Trade Administration, is closely collaborating with the Departments of State and Homeland Security 

to improve the experience of travelers entering the United States. Through the 

interagency, cabinet-level Tourism Policy Council, chaired by the Secretary of Commerce, we have partnered with State and DHS to disseminate information regarding 

U.S. entry requirements, including the implementation of the Electronic System for 

Travel Authorization (ESTA) fee, and to explore ways to facilitate the entry process 

for foreign visitors into the United States. The Tourism Policy Council has responded directly to, and is actively engaged in, these and other concerns raised by 

the private sector Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. 

In this context, the Department of Commerce is working with State, DHS, and 

the White House to identify and more effectively communicate the progress that the 

Administration is making to address concerns of the private sector. For example, 

wait times for visa appointments have been significantly reduced in key markets 

10 

such as China, as you will hear from David Donahue, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Visa Services at State. In addition, the number of travelers enrolled in trusted 

or known traveler programs managed by DHS has increased, which we understand 

is enabling Customs and Border Protection officers to more effectively and efficiently 

process visitors at U.S. ports of entry. 

We are also working with the private sector Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 

to understand industry concerns, and with our interagency partners to develop a 

culture of interagency collaboration and continual improvement, to support the success of the CTP and to achieve the objective of promoting international travel to the 

United States. 

Research 

The Department of Commerce provides the official U.S. government data on travel 

and tourism. As you know, the TPA significantly increased the Department’s responsibilities for data collection and research. This is critical to documenting the effect of travel and tourism on the economy and to job creation, as well as to developing promotional strategies essential to the success of the TPA. We will continue 

to provide essential data on key markets, and our statistical system will eventually 

help measure the value of the CTP’s efforts to increase travel and tourism and the 

resulting effect on the U.S. economy. 

Conclusion 

The Department looks forward to continuing our work with the CTP and key 

agencies, such as State and DHS, to achieve the goals of the TPA. We will continue 

to coordinate through the Tourism Policy Council, and with the White House, to improve the U.S. entry process and to communicate U.S. travel requirements more effectively. This work is a top priority for the Administration and through the Tourism Policy Council, we will ensure it receives cabinet-level attention. 

The potential of the TPA to create new opportunities for U.S. travel and tourism 

exports is critical in supporting the President’s National Export Initiative and 

achieving the President’s job creation objectives. This is an exciting time for the 

United States to engage in the global marketplace and, with the tools provided by 

the TPA, the United States is better able to proactively compete for international 

visitors. After all, more international visitors to the United States means more people eating in our restaurants, staying in our hotels, shopping in our malls, visiting 

our attractions and learning about our values and culture. 

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished members of 

the Subcommittee, thank you again for inviting me to testify today. I will be happy 

to answer any questions that you have. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Donahue? 

STATEMENT OF DAVID T. DONAHUE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY FOR VISA SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Mr. DONAHUE. Good afternoon, Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking 

Member Blunt and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. 

Today, my testimony will focus on what the Department of State 

has accomplished in the past 7 months since my last appearance 

before your Subcommittee. I am pleased to report that we made 

significant progress to facilitate legitimate travel while continuing 

to protect our borders and the safety of our fellow citizens. I want 

to thank you and your staff members for all the support you’ve 

given us in this process. 

In Fiscal Year 2011, consular officers issued more than 7.5 million U.S. visas, an increase of 16 percent over the previous year. 

The largest growth in travel comes from the world’s fastest emerging economies where we have seen demand for U.S. visas increase 

in a dramatic pace. 

In Fiscal Year 2011, we processed more than a million visas in 

China—that’s the first time we’ve crossed the million mark there— 

a 34 percent increase, and more than 800,000 visas in Brazil, a 42 

11 

percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Visa interview wait 

times throughout China are under 15 days at this time. 

We are adding 98 visa adjudicators, split evenly between China 

and Brazil in the next year. A number of new adjudicators are 

being hired through a pilot limited non-career appointment program that targets applicants who already speak Chinese or Portuguese. We expect the first group to arrive at post in China and 

Brazil in the spring of 2012 with a second group following in the 

summer of 2012. 

In the meantime, we are sending temporary duty officers to these 

posts to keep the wait times as low as possible. Brazil continues 

to be a challenge but our recent successes in Brazil include a 15 

percent reduction in appointment backlog in less than 2 months. 

Interview wait times, as mentioned, across Brazil are under 90 

days and we are working to keep them falling. 

We achieved a 50 percent increase in the number of interviews 

per day in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo through extended interview hours and other methods. In Rio de Janeiro, we’re now doing 

2,000 interviews a day and in Sao Paulo, 3,000 a day. 

In October 2011, we adjudicated 67 percent more visas throughout Brazil compared to October 2010. That was 87,500 visas in 

Brazil alone during last month. 

In China and Brazil, we are committed to increase our capacity 

to adjudicate 40 percent more visa applications in Fiscal Year 2012. 

We are adding nearly 60 windows across our China posts. 

We are assessing the feasibility of establishing more visa-issuing 

locations in both countries. In September, a Department team conducted a 2-week site survey in Brazil and another team visited 

China this month. We are adding 17 new windows in Mumbai, 

India, this month. 

In conclusion, let me stress that our top priority in visa adjudication is national security. We are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security to determine if the enhanced screening 

introduced since 9/11 may provide opportunities to interview fewer 

applicants in certain very limited categories without compromising 

border security requirements. We hope to brief Congress on the 

outcome of these discussions soon. 

We believe that U.S. interest in legitimate travel, trade, promotion and educational exchange do not conflict with our border security mission. The issuance and refusal of visas has a direct impact on our foreign relations as well as our economy. 

The Department of State is in a position to anticipate and weigh 

those factors working with our Commerce Department while ensuring border security as our first priority. 

We will staff up, build and innovate to ensure that America continues to be a secure and welcoming country. I have submitted 

written testimony for the record and I’m pleased to answer your 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Donahue follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAVID T. DONAHUE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR

VISA SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, and distinguished Members of 

the Subcommittee, it is a distinct honor to appear before you again to share the acVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
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complishments of my colleagues in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, and our efforts 

to facilitate the legitimate travel of millions of tourists, business people, students, 

and other visitors to the United States. 

Increasing Worldwide Demand for U.S. Visas 

We at the Department of State are dedicated to the protection of our borders, and 

have no higher priority than the safety of our fellow citizens. At the same time, we 

are committed to facilitating legitimate travel, and providing prompt and courteous 

service. For the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the challenge is to meet the increasing 

worldwide demand for U.S. visas without compromising the security of our Nation’s 

borders. I am pleased to testify that we are meeting this challenge head on. 

Consular officers adjudicated 8.8 million visa applications and issued more than 

7.5 million U.S. visas in Fiscal Year 2011, an increase in issuances of more than 

16 percent over the previous year, when 6.4 million visas were issued. We have experienced tremendous increases in demand for visas in some of the world’s fastestgrowing economies. We are issuing as many visas as we did in 2000, even though 

nine more countries have joined the Visa Waiver Program since then. 

According to the Department of Commerce, last year international visitors contributed $134 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting more than a million jobs. More 

international travel means more spending on airlines, tours, hotels, services, and export purchases, all of which mean more American jobs. Not only do international 

tourists, business visitors, and students boost our economy, but these visitors also 

leave our country with a better understanding of American culture and values. 

The greatest growth in travel comes from the world’s fastest emerging economies, 

where we have seen demand for U.S. visas increase at a dramatic pace. We are taking steps to meet this growing demand. I would like to update you on the efforts 

we have undertaken since my last appearance before the Subcommittee. 

The role of security has not diminished 

Security remains our primary mission, since every visa decision is a national security decision. We have an intensive visa screening process incorporating personal 

interviews with multiple biographic and biometric checks, all supported by a sophisticated global information technology network, which shares data with other government agencies. We continue to work with the law enforcement and intelligence communities to ensure that our officers have the latest information on whether an applicant poses a threat. Around the world, at 222 visa-issuing embassies and consulates, a highly-trained corps of consular officers and support staff process millions 

of visa applications each year, facilitating legitimate travel while protecting our borders. 

We instruct our staff that their highest priority must be to protect the United 

States and its citizens. The officers are also trained to be courteous, respectful, 

knowledgeable, and efficient. We ensure that these principles are core tenets of our 

training regimen for new consular officers and visa adjudicators. Our visa adjudication courses feature in-depth interviewing and name-checking technique training, 

fraud prevention, and the use of automated systems. Throughout their careers, consular officers receive continuing instruction in all of these disciplines, to ensure they 

integrate the latest regulations and technologies into their visa adjudication decisions. Our aim is to keep the visa process efficient, simple and secure for all those 

who wish to visit our great nation. 

Meeting Demand, Especially in Emerging Economies 

The Department of State is keeping pace with growing demand for visas, and continues to dedicate more personnel and resources to visa adjudication, focusing on 

embassies and consulates with the greatest resource needs. Specifically, we are committed to increasing visa adjudications by 40 percent in FY 2012 in both China and 

Brazil, two countries where we have seen the greatest increase in visa demand. 

• The Department is adding 98 visa adjudicators this year and next in China and 

Brazil. A number of these new adjudicators are being hired through a pilot program that targets applicants who already speak Mandarin or Portuguese. We 

expect the first group of these special hires to arrive at posts in China and 

Brazil in the spring of 2012. A second group will follow in summer 2012. 

• Some posts in China and Brazil are operating double shifts to maximize use of 

facilities. Working bilaterally with host governments, the Department is also 

working to expand and improve our visa-processing facilities to allow for even 

more applicant interviews. 

• The Department is using many different tools to expand capacity, including advanced technology to maximize efficiency and improve security-related screenVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
13 

ing. By consolidating some of the non-security-related consular functions, we 

are increasing capacity at our embassies and consulates. 

While we strive for maximum efficiency, our activity is unique and cannot be compared fairly with a standard ‘‘business model.’’ In Fiscal Year 2011, we processed 

more than a million visas in China, and more than 800,000 visas in Brazil. This 

represented a 34 percent increase in China over the previous Fiscal Year, and a 42 

percent increase in Brazil during the same period, an accomplishment that would 

be hard to match even in the private sector. We issue visas to almost 90 percent 

of Chinese applicants, and to over 96 percent of Brazilian applicants. 

Since 2005, consular officer staffing has doubled in Brazil. Since Fiscal Year 2008, 

we have sent more than 50 officers to Brazil on temporary assignments to meet 

short-term staffing needs, providing an additional 2,000 days of service. Our Brazil 

consular team has reduced the backlog of appointments by 15 percent in less than 

two months. Our consulate in Sao Paulo began extended interview hours in August, 

and other Brazilian posts are expected to follow. Sao Paulo increased from 2000 

interviews per day to 3000 per day. The U.S. Consulate General in Rio increased 

from 1000 interviews per day to 2000 interviews per day. We hosted two ‘‘Super Saturday’’ events at consular posts across Brazil, adjudicating almost 8,000 visa applications in those two days. In October 2011, our consular offices in Brasilia, Recife, 

Rio, and Sao Paulo adjudicated 87,500 visas, an increase of 67 percent over October, 

2010. 

We are working to expand and remodel our consular facilities as permitted by the 

Chinese and Brazilian governments, so that we can interview more visa applicants 

on a daily basis. We are expanding our interviewing capacity by adding 22 new 

service windows in Guangzhou, 20 new windows in Shanghai, eight new windows 

in Chengdu and eight new windows in Beijing. For India, we are adding 17 new 

windows in Mumbai. 

In addition, we are assessing the feasibility of establishing more visa-issuing locations in Brazil and China. In September, a team from the Department participated 

in a two-week site survey to improve and expand existing consular facilities in 

Brazil, and another team is in China this month. 

The Department created the Limited Non-career Appointment (LNA) program to 

hire visa adjudicators with essential language skills in Mandarin or Portuguese. 

LNA hires meet the strict qualifications of Foreign Service Officers and can speak 

Mandarin or Portuguese at a level equivalent to other adjudicators. They are appointed for one-year periods for no more than five consecutive years, and would 

have the same privileges and responsibilities as other consular adjudicators. We 

plan to hire over 50 LNAs and Professional Adjudication Specialists (PAS) over the 

next two years. Each 10 LNA/PAS represents approximately 150,000 more visas adjudicated per year. 

We also prioritize groups of travelers, such as students and business visitors. Wait 

times for student visa interview appointments worldwide are less than 15 days. We 

prioritize student visa appointments because of the tremendous intellectual, social, 

and economic benefits foreign students provide to the U.S. economy. According to 

the Department of Commerce, international students contributed nearly $20 billion 

to the U.S. economy during the 2009–2010 academic year. All U.S. embassies and 

consulates have established procedures to expedite appointments for business travelers. U.S. officials work closely with American Chambers of Commerce in more 

than 100 countries to streamline the visa process for business travelers. 

We use advanced technology to maximize efficiency and improve security-related 

screening. Our worldwide Global Support Strategy (GSS) contract, already in place 

in several countries, moves off-site some non-security-related consular functions in 

order to create additional capacity. GSS makes visa interview appointment scheduling transparent and consistent, and eliminates the user-pays scheduling programs 

in existence in many countries. 

We have worked to reduce or eliminate paper from all aspects of visa processing, 

winning awards for our green initiatives. Our nonimmigrant visa application is now 

completed and submitted online, and we are piloting a web-based immigrant visa 

application. 

Interviews and Reciprocity 

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires our consular officers to interview 

in person all first-time visa applicants aged 14 through 79, with interview waivers 

possible for diplomatic and official applicants from foreign governments and, in limited circumstances, some repeat applicants. 

We have begun the process of reviewing the criteria for visa interviews to determine whether efficiencies may be achieved that could allow us to reduce wait times 

and better serve visa applicants. We are working closely with the Department of 

14 

Homeland Security (DHS) to identify and evaluate options that remain consistent 

with our shared objectives of facilitating legitimate travel while combating fraud 

and safeguarding the security of the United States. If we are successful in developing proposals that meet these goals, we will discuss our findings with Congress. 

The law also requires us to set visa validity based on the validity of visas issued 

to U.S. citizens. Right now, the Chinese only issue 12-month visas, at the most, to 

Americans. U.S. Ambassador to China Locke regularly addresses the issue of visa 

validity with the Chinese government, with the goal of extending visa validity for 

American travelers from 12 months to two or more years, so that we can reciprocate 

and issue longer validity visas for Chinese tourists and business travelers. 

The Department does not act alone when it comes to decisions about visa validity; 

we must consult with DHS prior to increasing any period of visa validity. 

In addition to granting reciprocal treatment to U.S. citizens seeking visas to visit 

China, we would like to see the Chinese government make significant progress in 

issuing travel documentation to thousands of Chinese nationals in the United States 

under final removal orders. 

Finally, we are working with our U.S. Government partners to assist DHS as they 

consider additional countries for membership in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). 

The specific requirements for VWP membership are set forth in law and are quite 

strict; these statutory requirements help to make VWP the secure program that it 

is. 

Conclusion 

We believe that U.S. interests in legitimate travel, trade promotion, and educational exchange are not in conflict with our border security agenda, but rather further that agenda in the long term. 

Visa adjudication requires good judgment, insight into cultural practices, and 

knowledge of immigration law. Visa adjudication is not a mechanized process. It can 

never become a mechanized process, because we are protecting the safety of our citizens, legal permanent residents, and those who visit our country. 

Our global presence, foreign policy mission, and personnel structure give us singular advantages in executing the visa function throughout the world. Our authorities and responsibilities enable us to provide a global perspective to the visa process 

and its impact on U.S. national interests. The issuance and refusal of visas has a 

direct impact on our foreign relations, as well as our economy. The Department of 

State is in a position to anticipate and weigh all those factors, while ensuring border 

security as our first priority. We will continue to staff up, build and innovate to ensure that America continues to be a secure and welcoming country. 

This concludes my testimony today. I will be pleased to take your questions. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, thank you to both of you. 

I do want to say that we have had a lot of these hearings over 

the years since I took over and this was the most positive in terms 

of specific developments. So we’re very happy about that. 

And we have been joined by the Chairman of the Commerce 

Committee, Senator Rockefeller, and hope to hear a few words from 

him before we move on to questions. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thirty seconds. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Whatever you need. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, IV, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA 

The CHAIRMAN. I apologize. I was late. I guess that was evident. 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. I’ve always loved tourism, and I was a Governor 

of West Virginia for 8 years and that was sort of the most exciting 

because a lot of people would say, ‘‘no, we don’t want to come do 

business there’’ back then. It’s different now. 

But it’s partly different because of tourism because for some reason we’ve got a lot of Japanese tourists and we had a lot of people 

from overseas, and West Virginia is not far from Washington so 

15 

they would wander in. They kind of like what they see and it’s paid 

off in different ways. 

But when you think about it, if this is really true, Madam Chair, 

that one out of every nine Americans is employed one way or another by tourism—I mean, it’s just absolutely extraordinary. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. It’s true. 

The CHAIRMAN. It makes health care look trivial. I take that 

back. Health care is not trivial. 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. But I mean, 44,000 jobs in our state depend upon 

tourism. It brings in over $4 billion a year. That’s huge for us. And 

what I like about it the most is that people, I think, discover more 

who you are and what you’re like as a people through tourism 

when they don’t come with a specific purpose but when they’re 

traveling, and what we find in West Virginia is that a lot of, let’s 

say, people from Canada or people from other places they’ll come 

and they’ll keep coming. 

They’ll come to the same state park. And we want to say well, 

why are you coming to the same state park but, of course, you don’t 

say that because you’re glad they’re there. 

But it’s sort of the habit, and I think it’s the warmth of the reception they get, and that’s not something which is automatic, I 

mean, folks like yourself. I mean, you have to work at this very, 

very hard. 

People have to get accustomed to it. People who are starting up 

restaurants have to know how to work with people whose language 

they don’t speak perhaps and they need to know things to put out 

the welcome mat and make people want to come back. 

I think it’s about the healthiest thing that one can do in the 

whole business of job creation because it gives people enjoyment, 

and in our case it led to an enormous number, in the case of Japan, 

of industries that began to come over, and we have something like 

22 or 23 industries from Japan in West Virginia. 

That may not be much in a big state like Minnesota but it’s 

humongous in a small state like West Virginia. And word travels. 

People find out what you’re like. If they like it, that word travels, 

then it gets mixed up in the whole business of industrial development, which is important. 

So I’m always proud of you, Madam Chair, for what you do and 

Minnesota just has a big fat advantage in terms of beauty, a thousand lakes, and no mosquitoes. That’s what I’m told. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, we don’t have Harpers Ferry. That’s 

yours. 

The CHAIRMAN. Anyway, that’s my statement. 

[The prepared statement of The Chairman follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

Thanks to all our witnesses for participating in this important discussion about 

travel and how it affects our economy. 

I want to start by complimenting Senator Klobuchar for her focus on this issue. 

The timing couldn’t be better. With the launch of Brand USA, a public-private partnership that is marketing travel to America, our country will finally start aggressively competing for international travelers. 

16 

The goal is to create and support jobs that will boost the U.S. economy at a time 

when our country so desperately needs visitors and the revenue they bring. This 

will result in more international travelers coming to places like West Virginia and 

Minnesota and everywhere in between. 

Everyone here knows firsthand, that travel and tourism are critical to our economy. Hard-working Americans, whether in hotels, restaurants and shops, or as our 

river guides or tour operators, all depend on a thriving travel industry. Tourists contribute $750 billion a year to our economy, and provide jobs for approximately one 

in nine Americans. 

That’s why we’re here today, to continue supporting the travel industry. In addition to new job opportunities and a stronger economy, bringing in overseas visitors 

gives us a chance to showcase our great nation. 

As many people in the DC area know, West Virginia has long been known as a 

‘‘wild and wonderful’’ destination. Places like Cooper’s Rock State Forest or Babcock 

State Park offer breathtaking views of fall foliage. And, when that first big snow 

falls, thousands flock to our ski runs. 

West Virginia’s economy relies on tourism. 44,000 jobs in our state depend on it 

and the industry contributes $4 billion a year to the state economy. 

Part of the reason so many people visit West Virginia is that they’ve seen the advertising campaigns: ‘‘Where is Your West Virginia’’ and ‘‘Experience West Virginia.’’ The Division of Tourism has promoted West Virginia for years—it’s something that I championed as Governor—and that push continues today. Our advertisements are everywhere from DC metro stations to social networking sites because 

we realize how much is at stake. 

This is a good lesson for Brand USA. As it markets America, it should take note 

of what works elsewhere. West Virginia’s marketing campaign constantly evolves to 

reach more people and to make an impact on them in a meaningful way. 

Brand USA will need to evolve as well. Many of our competitor countries already 

have sophisticated marketing campaigns in place and will undoubtedly react to 

where and how Brand USA chooses to invest. The competition that goes on between 

countries is similar to the competition that goes on between states every day. Before 

large amounts of money are spent to reinvent the wheel, I would expect Brand USA 

to seek the advice of states with successful tourism promotion experience. 

As with any global initiative, the eyes of the world are upon us and it’s important 

that we succeed in making America an attractive destination to travelers everywhere. At a time when money is tight for most people, I hope we are creative and 

tactical in promoting West Virginia and America as the wonderfully diverse travel 

destinations they are. I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today on this 

subject, and I’d like to thank them again for joining today’s discussion. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. All right. Well, very good. Thank you so 

much. 

I’m going to turn over to Senator Blunt for the first questions. 

Senator BLUNT. Good. Good. Chairman, thanks for joining us. It’s 

good to have you at this hearing and your understanding of tourism helps our Subcommittee a lot. So thanks for that. 

Mr. Donahue, you mentioned Homeland Security and things you 

were looking at regarding enhanced screening and I’d be interested 

in that, and I’d also be interested in your view of the continued importance of the individual interview in countries where people need 

a visa. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Thank you for the question, Senator. 

First of all, I think visa interviews are key to our national security. We are very proud. We did over 9 million interviews last year. 

We think we do a good job of that. It helps us assess the person. 

One of the key things we’re doing in an interview is determining 

the intention, which is a very difficult thing, as you can imagine, 

of the applicant. Are they coming for the reasons they say they’re 

coming or do they have other reasons for coming? So we think it’s 

a very valuable tool. 

We do believe that there may be categories that we are discussing with the Department of Homeland Security and we’ve disVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
17 

cussed with members of Congress that maybe do not need to have 

an interview. 

A good example: there’s a tradition in Brazil where when you’re 

15 if you have the means your family sends you and your friends 

up to Disney World for a quincean ̃ era celebration. And so when 

these groups are coming we have a room full of 15-year-old girls 

that we have to interview one by one because the law requires us 

to do that. 

Those interviews could go to a family, a head of a family of five 

who is bringing their family to the United States. They could go 

to a businessman wanting to come to buy a tractor, all kinds of different things. 

And while we can expand, keeping up we want more and more 

people to come, keeping up the—if we can find areas like that 

where we feel that an interview would not necessarily enhance the 

security we think there are some opportunities. 

Another area is in China. Currently, the reciprocity is 1 year because that’s what China gives to Americans and the law requires 

that reciprocity be the same for Americans that the other country, 

that we would give to the other country’s nationals. 

That means that every year a Chinese student or a Chinese visitor has to reapply for a visa and they have to come in in-person 

if it’s been more than a year since their last interview expired. 

We think that since most countries have much longer reciprocity 

and that this is really a bilateral issue having to do with China’s 

view of their own national security that this would be an area that 

Indians, for instance, receive 10-year visas. 

Brazilians receive ten-year visas. The law requires that we only 

give one-year visas but do we need to see them again for an interview if they come in two and a half years later—if their application 

comes in. 

We certainly would call them in if there was anything in their 

past travel to the United States or anything in their new application that made us wonder whether they were going to continue to 

use that visa correctly. But if they’ve used the visa correctly we already have their biometrics. We’ve already interviewed them. 

We know what their travel pattern was in the United States, 

thanks to our colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security, 

and we think that there are cases, maybe not all of them but there 

are cases where we could not—we could waive the interview without detracting from national security. 

Senator BLUNT. And you think that takes legislation? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Legislation would make it clearest. We think that 

would be the clearest option. 

Senator BLUNT. We have that in the bill that Senator Klobuchar 

and I—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. We know. 

Senator BLUNT.—are sponsoring. It would give you a four-year 

window. 

Mr. DONAHUE. That would be perfect. 

Senator BLUNT. You wouldn’t have to have that interview and 

legislation would help. Possibly, you could do that without legislation? You could do that internally? 

18 

Mr. DONAHUE. It’s possible but there is guidance in the Immigration Nationality Act. So legislation would make it much clearer and 

would, of course, make it easier for us. 

Senator BLUNT. Well, we’re trying to give you some guidance on 

that. 

Mr. Hyatt, on Brazil and China we’ve had lots of discussion of 

those two countries because of the number of people that want to 

come. How far in advance can you predict something like that in 

the Commerce Department? I know you watch travel patterns. 

Did you see the Brazil and China thing coming and my question 

would be what do you—where do you think the next countries are 

where there’s going to be just a clearly growing demand? 

Mr. HYATT. We’re predicting at least 5 years out into the future 

and have a rigorous quantitative model looking at a variety of economic factors, connecting them to outbound travel patterns in those 

markets. 

I’m thinking about the five countries that we’re predicting over 

the next 5 years. China, Brazil, Russia, Venezuela and Australia 

are the five countries that we predict will have the highest growth 

rates out over the next 5 years. 

I could go back and determine how well we predicted the growth 

in China but that’s at least where we’re forecasting the highest 

growth. 

Senator BLUNT. And you share that information with—— 

Mr. HYATT. We do. We do. 

Senator BLUNT. With State. Mm-hmm. 

Mr. HYATT. And they use it to—yes, to predict some of the capacity that they expect to need. 

Senator BLUNT. And my last question, Mr. Donahue, are you 

looking at those three countries that were not on the Brazil—the 

after Brazil and China and thinking about what you need to do to 

prepare for that? 

Mr. DONAHUE. We certainly are. We just recently agreed to 

longer reciprocity in Russia in preparation for what we hope will 

be more Russian visitors. Venezuela offers a very difficult problem 

because of our relationships. 

We have limited staffing there and so we do have a very long 

wait time there that we cannot address and certainly is a country 

where we want to interview most of the applicants. The third one 

was—— 

Senator BLUNT. The third one was Australia. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Australia, and Australia is a visa waiver country. 

Senator BLUNT. Right. Thank you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. 

Senator Begich? 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you all 

very much for being here. 

Mr. Donahue, can you just go over one quick—you had two data 

points and I just want to make sure I had them right. Brazil has 

increased over the last year. What was the percent? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Over the last year it’s increased 42 percent. 

Senator BEGICH. And China was—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. Thirty-four percent. 

19 

Senator BEGICH. And in volume of travelers, what is that? Do 

you know that raw number? And if not, can you get that to me? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Yes, I think it’s—yes, I can get that for you. We’ll 

get it for you. 

Senator BEGICH. If you can get that just so I can match those up. 

Let me ask you, if I can. I know you have—in your written testimony you had an initiative that you all are working on called the 

limited non-career appointment that—can you tell me how that’s 

going and that is bringing back—well, you know it better than I 

do, helping with backlogs and bringing folks back for limited times 

for these appointments. 

Can you tell me how that’s going and what if any challenges 

there are with it? 

Mr. DONAHUE. It’s quite challenging. It’s progressing well, 

though. We put out a offer in the USA Jobs several months ago. 

We had a large response to it. But, again, we want these officers 

to have the same qualifications as our Foreign Service officers who 

are doing visa interviews. 

So we had a very strict criteria including the language requirements for these applicants. 

Senator BEGICH. If I can interrupt you. So when you had the language requirements you had specific areas you wanted them to go 

to and that was how you advertised it? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Right. The first program, it was just for Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese speakers. 

Senator BEGICH. Got you. OK. 

Mr. DONAHUE. So we tested them and we’ve tested a number of 

them. We were hoping to have 20 out of—I think there was 800 

that actually responded to that USA Jobs posting and we think 

we’ll net about 20 or 30 out of that number. 

We hope to open a class of 20 in January. Because they don’t 

need language, they will have the training including all of the consular law requirements and we hope to have them out in the field 

in March. And then another group—we did another USA Jobs right 

after that. 

And we can use the same program for other speakers. For instance, if Russia is the next tourist group that will be coming and 

we need extra officers in Russia that would—we would be able to 

do the—use the same pattern now that we put together the administrative part of this program. 

Senator BEGICH. Is there any—I’m assuming there are some cost 

savings because of the way you’re utilizing them or is it pretty 

much the same cost as what you would—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. The costs are very similar because they received 

the same benefits that our officers would receive. We save, of 

course, on the language training. That’s the biggest savings that 

we have, and they will only be employed for 5 years maximum, 1- 

year appointments for 5 years. 

Senator BEGICH. Is there anything in the budget end of your 

work that’s limiting how many you can put online or is it just the 

fact that it’s finding the qualified people that’s limiting the amount 

of people you can put online? 

Mr. DONAHUE. For this particular program, it is funded from visa 

fees. Obviously, the more people you put out there the more adminVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
20 

istrative support people you need which are not paid out of visa 

fees. 

So the General Services staff at the embassy, the overall infrastructure, that’s in the field. So we do—it’s very important that we, 

the State Department, receive its full budget. 

Senator BEGICH. Should the support services be paid by the visa 

fees? 

Mr. DONAHUE. We pay some of them but some of them are not 

within—for instance, some of the support services are outside of 

the exact requirements or they’re universal for the entire mission. 

Senator BEGICH. Very good. Thank you very much. 

Let me—Mr. Hyatt, if I can ask you just a couple of questions. 

You know, the Travel Promotion Act, one of the responsibilities 

was for the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries within the Department of Commerce to do research in connection with international travel and so forth. 

Can you give me a sense of what the Commerce Department is 

doing in that arena? And you’ve indicated, obviously, areas that 

you are already kind of projecting out but what more are you doing 

to help promote international travel and research? 

Mr. HYATT. The Act provides that the sample size for the research needs to increase from .2 or so percent to 1 percent, the 

basic reasoning being we need larger sample sizes to be able to get 

state-by-state data, and the Act is very clear that the benefits of 

the Travel Promotion Act need to benefit all states. 

So the primary focus of our research group now is figuring out 

exactly how to do that. We are looking at alternative ways to increase the sample size, how do we use technology to do that. 

We are looking at different ways to manage the sample size itself 

but we continue to work to try to find ways to meet the requirements of the Act which are to increase the sample size so we have 

more state-by-state data. 

Senator BEGICH. And I’m assuming with that process you’re engaging state visitor industry folks and so will try to figure out how 

to accomplish that or is it more internally now? 

Mr. HYATT. Both. We are both working internally. There is also 

a research committee within the Corporation for Travel Promotion 

with whom we’re working. That committee includes research experts, members of the research team at the corporation and also 

our folks. 

Another area that we’re exploring is different sources of funding 

for that—are there creative ways we might get the resources to 

execute the mandate of the Act. 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much. And as you progress 

would you mind keeping our office informed? It would be great to 

understand how you’re achieving that. 

Mr. HYATT. Be delighted to. 

Senator BEGICH. Great. Thank you very much. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. 

Senator Rockefeller? 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

I’m interested in the categories of people that come, let’s say, 

now at a time of enormous international economic we’re-all-oneVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
21 

world type of exchanges, professional groups, and what I would 

refer to as just plain tourists. 

For example, when I was younger I spent 4 summers and for 4 

years working for the American Friends Service Committee and I 

spent two summers in Russia and two summers in Japan, and it 

was a lot of hard work and debate and all kinds of things. But I 

wouldn’t have counted myself as a tourist. 

I would have counted myself as a person who was there either 

as a student or a graduate student or something of that sort. Because a lot of people now come over because of the business of business and they’re trying to find out. 

Some come to try to learn more about our business so they can 

take that back and do better there, and then a lot but probably a 

smaller percentage come simply because they want to find out 

what Americans are like. 

But within that question, there are two parts. One is that people 

want to go see the Statue of Liberty. They want to see the Minnesota Vikings. They want to see San Francisco. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. No matter what happens on Monday night 

games, they want to see them. 

The CHAIRMAN. They do and they should. But they come because 

of famous symbols and those famous symbols come to represent 

America like the Empire State Building or the large buildings all 

over the place, or they come because they’re looking for a chance 

to travel around, talk with Americans, find out what they’re like. 

Now, that was sort of the more old-fashioned tourist. Does that 

still exist and to what extent, if you can put any kind of a percentage between the various categories, come for business, governmentto-government contacts, professional meetings, things of that sort— 

one category—and another is the tourist who comes for various reasons? Can you expand? 

Mr. HYATT. Why don’t you start? 

Mr. DONAHUE. I’ll start but I’m going to disappoint you. What we 

like to do is we like to document people so that they can wake up 

in the morning and see a good ad and come for a vacation and then 

come the next week and buy a tractor or buy a turkey or whatever 

it is that their business is. 

So what we like to do, for instance, with Brazilians is give them 

a 10-year B–1, B–2 visa which is a business visa and a tourist visa. 

So we don’t separate it by how they’re coming. Department of 

Homeland Security may have those statistics and maybe some of 

the private industry. 

The CHAIRMAN. But there’s a catch. People decide to come for a 

reason. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Right. 

The CHAIRMAN. And that reason may evolve and multiply—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. That’s right. 

The CHAIRMAN. When they get over here. But they come for a 

purpose. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Certainly in China tourism is a growing—we have 

a group leisure travel which is a growing phenomenon there— 

where large groups of Chinese are coming over on planned travel 

and they’re trying—we’re trying to expand that with China. 

22 

It was a breakthrough by the Department of Commerce a couple 

of years ago when they signed the agreement and that is—that is 

helping. But it’s in every area. We just—we’re celebrating—this 

week we’re celebrating national—International Education Week 

and we had, again, record number of students coming to the United 

States for student and exchange, as student and exchange visitors. 

So it’s every category. 

The CHAIRMAN. They count. If you—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. They don’t—they count—they count as visas. 

They get visas, yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, but I understand the visa part. That gets 

them in. But the motivation is that they come here because they 

want to do something. 

Maybe they want to study, you know, physics and they stay here 

for several years to do so. I would count that as a tourist, I suppose. But do you understand what I’m trying to say? 

Mr. DONAHUE. No, I understand. We don’t track it that way. 

The CHAIRMAN. Because they want to learn more about our country as opposed to a more professional ‘‘I want to know more about 

this widget,’’ I want to know more about what they do with defense 

or—— 

Mr. DONAHUE. Right. 

The CHAIRMAN. I want to go see famous parks. 

Mr. DONAHUE. And we see the wide variety. I don’t know if you 

have any statistics on that. 

Mr. HYATT. Well, I don’t have them offhand but in our airlines 

survey we do gather that kind of information—what was the purpose of the visit, what did you do during the trip—and I think we 

could—I’d be happy to go back and see what information we have 

on purpose of trip, how those individuals are being segmented. 

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to know that. 

Mr. HYATT. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

[The information requested follows:] 

[U.S. Department of Commerce Response to Chairman Rockefeller Inquiry] 

The Office of Travel & Tourism Industries has been surveying international air 

travelers to the United States since 1983. Within the survey we ask over 30 pieces 

of information on the international visitors. One of them is purpose of trip. We ask 

the purpose of trip question two ways. One is to ask their main purpose of trip and 

then we ask if they had any others. 

In 2010, of the 34,000 plus overseas travelers surveyed, 54 percent stated their 

main purpose of trip was leisure/recreation/holiday; 20 percent stated they were 

here to visit friends and relatives; 18 percent were here for business/professional 

reasons; four percent visited for a convention/conference; three percent were here for 

study/teaching, and there were three other purposes asked in the question although 

all were under one percent. To see the actual survey instrument, go to: http:// 

www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/pdf/SIAT_Questionnaire.pdf. 

Another useful document is the overseas profile: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/out 

reachpages/download_data_table/2010_Overseas_Visitor_Profile.pdf. The purpose of 

trip response is on page 5. 

In addition to providing purpose of trip for overseas travelers, we also have it for 

11 regions and 22 countries. We report them on the OTTI website at: http:// 

www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/inbound.general_information.inbound_overview 

.html. 

Once on the above page, if you scroll down to any of the countries or regions and 

click on the link on page 3 of the profiles, we have the purpose of trip breakouts. 

23 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. I have a few questions. Then 

we’ll turn it over to Senator Thune from the great state of South 

Dakota, home of the Black Hills, the one place I got to go on vacation every single year. 

I’ve read about the success that the consulate in Brazil has had 

with the use of the extended weekend times, the weekend hours to 

process the visa applications, and I want to know how that’s working. 

I think you call them super Saturday hours to help cut back on 

the backlog. What difference has that made and could it be utilized 

in other places? Mr. Donahue? 

Mr. DONAHUE. There’s a long history of having super Saturdays 

around the world whenever we find that for whatever reason—it 

could be just that there’s a couple of 4-day weekends in a row that 

get you a little bit behind in your schedule, and we’ve had several 

of them in Brazil. 

They are, as you can imagine, if you work your same staff 

seven—six days a week on a regular basis they have families, they 

have lives and they become tired of that. It’s very grueling work 

doing interviews 5 days a week. You’re doing 120, 130 a day. 

So what you need to do that is you need more staff so that you 

can maybe split your week and so that you don’t depend week after 

week for people working that extra day and that’s something we 

are certainly looking at is the possibility as we get—as we bring 

in the L and A’s, as we also are shifting people. 

We just opened a class November 1 with 50 students. All of those 

students from the—this is a regular Foreign Service class—all 50 

of those students are going out to take up consular assignments as 

soon as they finish their training. 

So as we move more people in if, as we get excess capacity, we’ll 

be able to do more of that. But we do it from time to time but it 

is very difficult with the same people. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And have you been able to project out as 

you add those people, say, in Brazil? I was just remembering at the 

last hearing we showed the ‘‘Good Morning, America’’ version in 

Brazil of the people laying on the sidewalks waiting to get their 

visas. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Right. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Have you projected how—where you’d like 

to be in terms of the wait time? You know, what did you say about 

China, you’re down to 15 days? Was that it? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Fifteen days is the longest wait. I think that’s in 

Beijing and I think it’s 8 days in Shanghai. So we’re very proud. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. I think it was like 90 in June or something, 

I read. 

Mr. DONAHUE. The most it was this summer was 60 days so it 

got a little bit longer. We have a confluence of both the summer 

and the students at the same time. We have the same—that’s a 

problem worldwide. But yes, we would like to see those days as low 

as possible. 

What we want is that someone who wants to go can go when 

they want to go. I think, you know, we—under 15 days, under 10 

days, we want them as short as possible. Lots of things come in— 

holidays, other things that you don’t expect. 

24 

But the idea is to have the capacity so that people can call up, 

make an appointment, come in at their convenience, make that 

trip. 

And, again, the longer reciprocity makes a big difference for multiple travels because, as I say, in Brazil you come once, that visa 

is good for 10 years and then you can even renew that by courier. 

You don’t have to come in after that ever again. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. You know, you talked with Senator 

Blunt about the current requirements for the in-person interview. 

I just wanted to go through that again. Aren’t there classes of visitors who don’t have in-person interviews today? 

Mr. DONAHUE. The only classes of applicants who don’t have inperson interviews today are diplomats and also people whose visa 

has expired within a year and are applying in the same category 

at the same posting. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. So that’s it. Everyone else has an interview? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Everyone else gets an interview and that’s—that 

was put in after 9/11. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And where are the areas where you think 

that in-person interviews are most important? 

Mr. DONAHUE. I think, first of all, first-time applicants, I think. 

Not all first-time applicants but for many first-time applicants I 

think that’s really important. 

First of all, we need to see them because we also observe—we 

have an American—a cleared American always observes the collection of the biometrics and that’s the real identification of our travelers. And so we think it’s very important than an American watch 

that biometric be collected the very first time, and we do that every 

time. 

Then, I think, the other—certainly, if there’s anything in the application that is—makes us wonder well, why is this person going, 

a lot has to do with what’s this person—does it makes sense, does 

the travel that the person’s pursuing make sense. 

And then, of course, we do—before the person ever comes in we 

do extensive background check against U.S. databases and if anything comes up that draws attention to that person we have that 

person come in for an interview regardless of whether they’re eligible for a waiver or not. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And do you think there’s ways to more strategically target consular resources at the high-risk visa applicants 

who we really want to be screened through an in-person interview? 

Mr. DONAHUE. Yes. I think that’s—I think there is. I think I 

mentioned a couple of categories that we think would be—that are 

obvious right now. There may be other categories of applicants who 

we can determine from either their past travel, from the information we already have on them, from our knowledge of that country 

that this particular individual or this—these groups of individuals 

could be considered. 

In every case, we would do it—we would target those interviews 

so that we would not say that this whole group doesn’t need an 

interview but that that group, the officer could look at the paperwork and say no, this is a person—they had been a student, they’re 

going to be a student, they’re in good standing, they’re going to the 

25 

University of Minnesota and they’ve been at a—you know, have 

been a great student there and we can tell this from SEVIS now. 

So that we know a lot about these applicants and do we really 

need to be interviewing this person a second time right in the middle of their 4 years education at the University of Minnesota. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. Very good. Well, thank you. I have a 

few questions I’ll put in writing about the agencies, Mr. Hyatt— 

how you’re working with other agencies. 

But I know we want to get on to our second panel and also Senator Thune has some questions here. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and thank you 

for visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Harney Peak. 

Senator THUNE. I hope you will continue to do that, yes. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thanks. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator THUNE. Let me direct this question to Mr. Hyatt, if I 

might. 

I grew up in the tourism business. My town in South Dakota now 

has about 500 people. I think it had about 800 when I was growing 

up except between June and August every summer in which it 

filled up—motels, restaurants, filling stations. 

I spent seven summers working in a restaurant mostly as a 

short-order cook. I had two brothers that worked at filling stations, 

another one that worked at the big Pioneer Auto Show which is our 

attraction in town, and my parents managed a motel for about 12 

years. 

So I know how important tourism is to a state like South Dakota 

and increasingly international tourism too. 

You get more and more visitors who are coming, not just from 

the region and the country but around the world, and I’m sort of 

curious to know how much certain things impact. You know, there 

tends to be—it sort of follows the economic cycle. 

If you have good economies, bad economies people travel. In bad 

economies they don’t, and this summer because of all the—and 

some of it’s dictated by weather. We had a lot of flooding this summer so that really impacted the travel business in my state. 

But I’m curious to know to what degree fuel prices do that. Yesterday, AAA reported the national average cost for regular gasoline 

was $3.40 a gallon. 

Last year at this time it was $2.89 a gallon, and with this instability we’re seeing in the Middle East and North Africa oil prices 

are continuing to remain high, which in turn is going to affect 

everybody’s pocketbooks and when they spend more at the gas 

pump they tend to spend less on other things. 

With regard to transportation costs for airlines, vehicles, trains, 

et cetera, could you speculate on the effect that higher fuel prices 

have on tourism in the United States and is there a direct correlation between price at the pump and the amount of travel that we 

see in this country? 

Mr. HYATT. Thank you, Senator. 

26 

Our tourism travel—our Tourism and Travel Advisory Board are 

private—our advisory board filled with private-sector members actually have prepared a document, a paper, on that very topic, on 

the relationship between fuel prices, energy costs and travel and 

tourism. 

So yes, there is that direct relation and I’d be happy to forward 

the report which is a very, very detailed, very analytically-based 

look at the connection between energy cost and travel. 

Senator THUNE. Is it broken down geographically? I mean, do 

you have a—when they did this and—— 

Mr. HYATT. You know, I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t 

remember the report, whether it goes to that level of detail. Obviously, certain states with greater distances to drive would be 

more—the thinking would be it would be more impacted. I don’t remember if the report does that. 

Senator THUNE. OK. And did it kind of do like some sensitivity 

analysis with regard to how much when a price a gallon, let’s say, 

of gas goes up 50 cents—— 

Mr. HYATT. There is some of that. 

Senator THUNE. That percentage then of decline that you might 

see in a—— 

Mr. HYATT. There is some of that analysis in the report. 

Senator THUNE. OK. I’d be very interested in seeing that. 

And that second question I guess I have, skipping on to a different issue but—and maybe this has been touched on. If it 

hasn’t—if it has, forgive me. 

But, Mr. Donahue, this discussion about the visa waiver program 

and its success in promoting travel in the United States, I’m told 

that the countries participating in that are the largest source of 

international visitors, comprising about 65 percent of all inbound 

travel to the United States, and I understand that DHS administers the program. 

I’m a little interested about what State’s role is in that and what 

we are doing as a nation to actively encourage more countries to 

participate in the visa waiver program. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Thank you very much for the question, Senator. 

The State Department works very closely with the Department 

of Homeland Security on the visa waiver program and we’re involved in one of the visa sharing agreements. We work with other 

agencies in negotiating one of the agreements that’s required for 

those who want to enter. 

We also provide the statistics that help determine whether a 

country is eligible for the program. They have to have, according 

to the law, under 3 percent refusal rate and, of course, the refusal 

rate is our visa refusal rate. So we’re involved from that point of 

view. 

And then the Secretary of State is responsible for nominating 

countries for consideration once they meet the threshold, the 3 percent threshold, and begin the process of meeting the other five or 

six requirements that are in law for the visa waiver program. 

So we’re involved in doing that. We certainly provide a lot of information through our embassies to the countries on how to meet 

the requirements of the visa waiver program. 

27 

We work very closely with the teams that come out from the different agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, to 

negotiate these agreements and help the countries understand why 

signing these agreements and working with us on information 

sharing is in the mutual interest to both countries in securing our 

borders and ensuring that terrorist travel or criminal travel is inhibited throughout the world. 

So we think it’s a very great program and, as you say, 65 percent 

of people travel on that program. We saw a big increase in Korea 

when they went on the visa waiver program, although that’s now 

leveled off. But it was a—the first year was a huge bump in Korean 

tourists. 

Senator THUNE. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. OK. Very good. Thank you, Senator Thune. 

And I’m going to put Senator Rockefeller’s statement in the record. 

I want to thank our witnesses and thank also the Commerce Secretary as well as the Secretary of State for the work that’s being 

done here and everyone that’s doing the work on the front line. We 

know there’s more to do. We really appreciate your efforts. 

Mr. DONAHUE. Thank you for your support. 

Mr. HYATT. Thank you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you, and while we bring the second 

panel up we’re going to show a video actually from the Corporation 

for Travel Promotion, which is now doing business as Brand USA. 

This is the travel promotion campaign. It’s not yet a commercial 

but it gives you a sense of some of what we’re going to see. So if 

we could start with the video right now. 

[VIDEO PRESENTATION.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. Oh, there we are. Good. 

[APPLAUSE.] 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. We don’t always have applause at a hearing so that’s very exciting for us. 

Senator BLUNT. I think almost never. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Yes, never. I’ll introduce all four of our witnesses in the next panel. 

First, Mr. Jim Evans, who is the CEO of Brand USA. We look 

forward to hearing from you. Mr. John Edman is the Director of 

Explore Minnesota Tourism, the official state tourism agency for 

Minnesota. 

I would note that he was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura, 

then reappointed by Governor Pawlenty, then reappointed by Governor Dayton. So just like the people in the travel industry he is 

a true survivor. So thank you for that and all your good work. 

Mr. Jonathan Zuk—is it Zuk? Did I say it right? 

Mr. ZUK. Zuk is correct. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Is the Vice Chairman of the Receptive Services Association of America as well as the President of Amadeo—— 

Mr. ZUK. Amadeo. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Amadeo. Amadeo Travel Solutions. And 

then finally, Mr. Jonathan Tisch is the Chairman and CEO of 

Loews Hotels and Chairman of the U.S. Travel Association forever. 

He founded it. So thank you very much. 

We will first start with Mr. Evans. 

28 

STATEMENT OF JAMES P. EVANS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 

BRAND USA 

Mr. EVANS. Thank you, Madam Chair, Senator Blunt, esteemed 

members of the Subcommittee. It’s a pleasure to meet with you 

today and to report on the progress of the Corporation for Travel 

Promotion, now doing business as Brand USA. 

Increasing international visitation to the United States is critical 

because it provides a stimulus without taxpayer burden. In 2010, 

travel and tourism exports totaled $134 billion, which was 7 percent of U.S. exports. 

Travel and tourism industry supports 7.5 million American jobs 

of which 1.1 million are supported by international travelers. And 

with every 65 international travelers to the United States supporting one job, international visitation is a vital part of each of 

this nation’s 435 Congressional districts. 

Yet, due in part to our lack of a coordinated international marketing program, the United States’ share of international arrivals 

declined from 17 percent of the world travel market in 2000 to 12 

percent today. 

Oxford Analytica estimates the cost to this country of lost potential global market share as 78 million visitors and 6.6—excuse me, 

$606 billion in revenue. Brand USA was established to reverse this 

decline and to capitalize on the growth in the international travel 

market. The World Travel Organization forecasts global travel 

spending to double to $2.1 trillion by 2020 and to increase by 10 

percent as a share of global travel GDP. 

Further, the U.S. Department of Commerce forecasts that by 

2016 the United States will welcome 81 million visitors, which is 

22 million additional visitors above 2010 and will support 338,000 

more jobs. 

Last week, we unveiled Brand USA to the global tourism community at World Travel Market in London. Brand USA is truly a 

brand for Americans to be proud of. Our brand captures the indomitable spirit of inclusivity and possibility as the greatest destination 

in the world. 

Brand USA is committed to developing innovative cooperating 

marketing programs that will create and add value for the U.S. 

travel and tourism industry. And while in London we met with 

Visit USA representatives of the United Kingdom and Europe. 

Through our relationships with these kinds of industry partners, 

Brand USA will develop customized initiatives targeted to key 

international markets. At home, we’ve met with iconic destinations 

and brands as well as smaller destinations. 

In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to meet with an 

inclusive cross-section of the industry such as Visit Wyoming, the 

South Dakota Department of Tourism, and our National Park Service. 

Since I joined Brand USA as CEO in late May, I’m pleased to 

report great progress. We have recruited some of the most talented 

minds in tourism marketing to develop a strategy to recapture the 

world’s imagination. Our team is a diverse and international group. 

We speak seven languages and have lived all over the world. 

We have been proactive in ensuring transparency in our operations. Each month we hold an open board meeting that any memVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
29 

ber of the public is welcome to listen in on. We post the minutes 

of these meetings on our corporate website, thebrandusa.com, 

which I encourage everyone to visit. 

Our focus between now and the launch of our first international 

advertising campaign in March is essentially three-fold. 

First, we are highly committed to raising monies from the travel 

and tourism industry and beyond. Brand USA has cash commitments in excess of $4 million and in kind commitments at over $12 

million. 

We believe in delivering to the Department of Commerce—we 

plan on delivering to the Department of Commerce—our first request for a drawdown of matching funds as soon as next week. 

Second, we are swiftly developing marketing communications for 

all key markets. Our logo and brand strategy give you a sense of 

the innovative direction in which we are headed. In March, we plan 

to launch our global advertising campaign. 

We’re selecting our target markets based on a robust analysis of 

factors—such as volume of the international travel, the value or 

spend of the travelers from that location, the growth potential, ease 

of entry into the United States, seasonality, and more. 

And finally, we are engaged in frequent communications with industry and the government. Since October 1, our team has participated in 24 conferences and meetings to bring Brand USA to our 

stakeholders and seek their input. 

Brand USA must be an inclusive model that promotes not only 

traditional attractions and destinations but also cultural tourism 

and outdoor spaces that attract increasing numbers of return visitors. 

We maintain a cooperative and collaborative relationship with 

Congress and the executive branch. There is great mutual interest 

to promote the Brand USA message and to ensure that visa and 

entry/exit policies allow the United States to take full advantage of 

our efforts. 

You’ll be hearing more from us as we progress on Brand USA activities and promotional efforts. 

I thank you for your time this afternoon and look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Evans follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES P. EVANS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BRAND USA 

Introduction 

Esteemed members of the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to meet with you today 

and report on our progress at the Corporation for Travel Promotion now doing business as Brand USA. Thanks to the vision and continued support of Congress and 

the administration, the United States is now in a much-improved position to compete for international visitors. This is good news for business owners across the 

country in tourism-related industries. 

Travel and Tourism: A Growing Global Opportunity 

We are eager to continue our collaboration with the government to achieve the 

National Export Initiative. In 2010, travel and tourism exports totaled $134 billion, 

which was 7 percent of total U.S. exports and 25 percent of U.S. services exports. 

Travel and tourism industries support 7.5 million jobs, of which 1.1 million are supported by international travelers. Increasing international visitation to the United 

States is now more important than ever because it provides a stimulus without taxpayer burden. With every 65 international travelers to the United States supporting 

30 

1 U.S. job, international visitation is vital part of each of this Nation’s 435 congressional districts. 

Until now, the United States has been one of few industrialized nations without 

a coordinated international visitation program. Since 2000, our share of international arrivals declined by 37 percent—from 17 percent of the world market in 

2000 to 11 percent today. Between 2000 and 2010, global travel market grew by 

more than 60 million travelers annually, yet U.S. visitation stayed virtually flat. According to Oxford Analytica, the cost to this country of lost potential global market 

share is 78 million visitors and $606 billion in lost spending. Brand USA was established precisely to reverse the decline in international visitation to the United 

States and return this country to its pre-2001 trajectory. 

Currently, the travel market is one of the few booming sectors globally. The World 

Travel Organization forecasts global travel spending to double to $2.1 trillion by 

2020 and increase by 10 percent as a share of global GDP. Further, according to 

the U.S. Department of Commerce, visitor volume is expected to increase 6 percent 

in 2011. Going forward, the United States is forecast to see a 5 percent annual 

growth rate in visitor volume from 2012 to 2016. By 2016 we are forecast to welcome 81 million visitors, which is an additional 22 million visitors and support for 

338,000 jobs over 2010. 

Brand USA 

This month, we unveiled Brand USA to the global tourism industry at the World 

Travel Market in London and we were extremely well received (earned media value 

from the brand unveiling is estimated in the hundreds of thousands). Brand USA 

is truly a brand for Americans to be proud of. Our brand captures the indomitable 

spirit of inclusivity and possibility as the greatest destination in the world. 

Brand USA is committed to developing innovative, cooperative marketing programs that will create and add value for the U.S. travel and tourism industry. 

While in London, we met with Visit USA representatives of the UK and Europe. 

Through our relationships with these kinds of industry partners, Brand USA will 

develop customized initiatives targeted to key international markets. At home, we’ve 

met with iconic destinations and brands as well as smaller destinations. In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to meet with an inclusive cross-section of the 

industry such as Visit Wyoming, the South Dakota Department of Tourism, and the 

National Parks Service. 

Progress at Brand USA 

Since I joined Brand USA as CEO in late May, I am pleased to report robust 

progress. We have recruited some of the best minds in the marketing world to develop a strategy to recapture the world’s imagination and inspire millions of international travelers to visit U.S. destinations from coast to coast. Our team is a diverse and international group: we speak seven languages and have lived everywhere 

from the Netherlands to Japan to Brazil, and beyond. 

In just a few short months we have set up our offices near Farragut West, taken 

on two beautiful websites, and unveiled this country’s new brand to a feted industry 

reception in London. 

We have been proactive in assuring transparency in our operations. Each month 

we have held an open board meeting that any member of the public is able to dial 

into. We post the minutes of these meetings on our corporate website, 

thebrandusa.com, which I encourage you to visit. 

Our focus between now and the launch of our first international marketing campaigns in March is essentially three-fold. First, we are highly committed to raising 

monies from the travel and tourism industry to fund Brand USA’s operations and 

marketing campaigns. Brand USA has cash commitments in excess of $4 million 

and ‘‘in-kind’’ commitments of over $12 million. We will be delivering to the Department of Commerce our first request for a drawdown of matching funds as soon as 

next week. 

Second, we are swiftly developing marketing communications for our key markets. 

Our logo and brand strategy give you a sense of the innovative direction in which 

we are headed. In March we plan to launch our global advertising campaign. We 

are selecting our target markets based on a robust analysis of factors such as volume of international travel, value, growth, prominence of target market, ease of 

entry, seasonality, and more. 

Finally, we are engaged in frequent communication with industry and government stakeholders to inform Brand USA activities, messaging and policies so that 

they reflect the state of industry and government stakeholders. Since October 1, our 

team has participated in 24 conferences and meetings to bring Brand USA to our 

stakeholders. Brand USA must be an inclusive model that promotes not only tradiVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
31 

tional attractions and destinations, but also cultural tourism and outdoors spaces 

that will attract increasing numbers of return visitors. Constant exchange with 

brands in all sectors of the travel industry—including lodging, transportation, attractions, retail, distribution, tour operation, rental cars, food and beverage, financial services, and more—in all areas of the country is critical to ensuring that we 

accurately embody all they have to offer and that we demonstrate to them the return on their investment in Brand USA. We are also preparing to meet with the 

Chief Marketing Officers of the leading CVBs and DMOs—small and large—across 

the country to ensure that we incorporate their ideas into our marketing. 

Stakeholder communication also means maintaining a cooperative and collaborative relationship with the Congress and with the Executive Branch. We all share 

the national goal of increasing international visitation and creating jobs. There is 

a great convergence of interest to promote the Brand USA message and ensure that 

visa and entry/exit policies allow our country to take full advantage of our efforts. 

Increased demand for visas from emerging markets like Brazil, China, and India require appropriate response from responsible U.S. government agencies. According to 

the Department of Commerce, last year we had 1.2 million visitors from Brazil (a 

34 percent increase over 2009); 802,000 visitors from China (a 53 percent increase 

over 2009); and 651,000 from India (an 18 percent increase over 2009). 

You will be hearing from us as we progress on Brand USA activities, messaging, 

and policies to ensure you are aware of the state of the industry and our promotion 

efforts. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to answering any questions you 

might have. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Mr. Evans. 

Mr. Edman? 

STATEMENT OF JOHN F. EDMAN, DIRECTOR, 

EXPLORE MINNESOTA TOURISM 

Mr. EDMAN. Well, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for 

everyone on the Committee for giving the travel industry the attention that it deserves and I really do appreciate the opportunity to 

speak from the perspective of a smaller state like Minnesota, although I have observed, Madam Chair, due to your efforts the stature of our state looms large in the eyes of this Committee. 

It’s worth repeating but travel and tourism does work for—— 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. That’s why you survived three Governors, 

I see that. OK. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. EDMAN. As Mr. Evans mentioned, our industry generates $1.7 trillion and one in nine jobs, and that affects all states, including states like Minnesota. As you know, Minnesota is the north 

central part of the country. 

We’re well known for our outdoors and our natural resources. 

That’s why people originally came to our state. 

But we also are home to many large cities and small towns. Our 

largest area, Minneapolis-St. Paul, is home to over 20 Fortune 500 

companies and a great place for business to prosper. The area is 

also a major tourism destination, drawing visitors for arts and museums and sports. Now, in Minnesota tourism is an $11 billion industry, and just 

to put that in perspective, the economic impact is comparable to agriculture in terms of its importance in our state. Travel and tourism generates over 17 percent of all sales tax in Minnesota. That’s 

over $700 million. 

And our industry generates over 240,000 jobs. That’s roughly 11 

percent of all the private-sector jobs in our state. 

Each year, 39 million travelers come to Minnesota for leisure and 

for business and these people stay in hotels, resorts, but they also 

32 

have secondary impacts on businesses from financial services to 

printing and everything in between. Half of the economic impact is 

in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. 

The travel spending reaches every other part of our state as well 

and there are many rural counties in our state that the leisure and 

hospitality industry is the primary employer. As you would have 

guessed, summer is our primary season for travel but the economic 

impact is felt year round. 

We draw people mostly from the north central region for leisure 

and for business, and we’ve affected—we felt the same impact of 

travel trends as the rest of the country and that includes travel 

closer to home, more last-minute travel, higher demand for value 

or bargains in travel spending. 

But this last year we’ve seen a gradual increase in occupancy 

and hotel revenue and we’re starting to see longer-haul travel to 

our state, an increased interest from abroad. Internationally, we 

draw people to our state for business and education. 

We are—draw people because of our well-known attractions—the 

Mississippi River, the Great Lakes and Minneapolis-St. Paul, of 

course, the Mall of America, which brings in over 3 million international visitors annually. But our most important international 

market is Canada and we’ve seen significant growth—43 percent in 

Canadian traveler spending in 2010. 

Other markets include the U.K., Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan and Mexico, and we’re also showing some increased 

interest in the opportunities in China as well. 

International travel can certainly help the hospitality industry 

recover from the impacts of the recession and, indeed, the entire 

country needs to be ready to compete effectively in the marketplace. 

As we strive to attract visitors from abroad, it’s important that 

we make it easier for visitors to come to our country. 

America’s burdensome visa process drives millions of visitors to 

other countries, which imposes an enormous cost for all of our 

states. 

Key to economic growth and job creation is a smarter visa policy 

and we need to reduce visa wait times and make travel to the U.S. 

easier, and I am very pleased, Madam Chair and members of the 

Committee, with your efforts on the provisions in the International 

Travel Facilitation Act, which helps alleviate long wait times at 

embassies and gives the State Department the tools and incentives 

it needs. 

And then, finally, facilitating the visa process is important but 

it’s not the only thing we can do and I’m very pleased that Congress last year passed into the law the Corporation for Travel Promotion to give a strong brand, as Mr. Evans was talking about, in 

the international marketplace, and this public and private effort is 

exactly the kind of tool we should be making. 

We should have been doing this years ago, to speak with one 

voice as we seek to increase market share of travelers to this incredible collection of 50 states. 

Travel and tourism is a huge driver for employment and economic development and I greatly appreciate the work of this Committee in support of travel and tourism and jobs. Travel and tourVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
33 

ism—it works for Minnesota, it works for America and it works for 

us all. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Edman follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOHN F. EDMAN, DIRECTOR, EXPLORE MINNESOTA TOURISM

Madam Chair and members of the Subcommittee: My name is John Edman and 

I am Director of Explore Minnesota Tourism, the official state tourism agency for 

the state of Minnesota. I want to thank you for all you have done to address the 

issues travel and tourism in the U. S., and thank you for giving me the opportunity 

to talk about the economic impact of travel and tourism in my home state of Minnesota. 

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the travel industry’s 

impact on the economy from the perspective of a smaller state like Minnesota. Travel and Tourism Works for America, and this industry is crucial to our country’s 

overall economy. The leisure and hospitality sector generates $1.7 trillion in gross 

sales and supports one in nine jobs nationwide. Domestic and international travelers purchase a diverse range of goods and services, which impacts the economies 

of each of the fifty states. 

Minnesota is located in the north-central part of the country and is well-known 

for its abundance natural resources, including our 10,000-plus lakes. For well over 

a century, our lakes and woods have drawn visitors for outstanding outdoor recreation. Minnesota is also home to vibrant large cities and small towns. Our largest 

metropolitan area, Minneapolis-St. Paul, is headquarters to more than twenty Fortune 500 companies, drawing business travelers from around the world. The Twin 

Cities area is also a major tourism destination, drawing visitors for its top-notch 

arts and museums, sports, and shopping. 

Travel and tourism in Minnesota is an $11 billion industry, a vital part of our 

diverse economy. It impacts every county in our state, and is comparable to agriculture in its contributions to the gross state product. Travel and tourism also generate more than 17 percent of Minnesota’s annual sales tax revenues, almost $700 

million. What’s more, our leisure and hospitality sector accounts for more than 

238,000 jobs, or roughly 11 percent of all private-sector jobs in our state. 

Each year, 39 million travelers come to Minnesota to enjoy our natural resources 

and cultural attractions, attend conventions and do business. These visitors spend 

money at businesses throughout the state, including hotels, resorts, restaurants, 

shops, museums, gas stations, car rentals and more. But these direct expenditures 

also generate a wide variety of secondary impacts across Minnesota. From financial 

services to printing, a wide variety of Main Street businesses benefit from spending 

by the leisure and hospitality sector. 

Travel and tourism generates business in every region of our state, from large 

metropolitan areas to small towns and villages, from our north woods and lakes to 

our rural areas. More than half of the economic impact of travel and tourism in 

Minnesota is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. But travel and tourism 

are important to local economies throughout the state. There are many areas where 

the hospitality industry is a primary business and lead employer. Although summer 

is Minnesota’s primary season for leisure travel, the economic impact of travel and 

tourism in our state is felt year-round. 

Minnesota’s primary travel market is the North Central U.S., although we attract 

leisure and business travelers from across the country. Minnesota has felt the impact of several trends in domestic travel in recent years, responses to the public’s 

concern about the economy. These trends include travel closer to home, more lastminute travel planning, and higher demand for good values in travel spending. 

In addition to domestic leisure and business travelers, Minnesota draws visitors 

from around the world for business, education, cultural exchanges and vacation 

travel. Among our draws for international leisure travelers are the Mississippi 

River, our great Lake Superior, the cosmopolitan Minneapolis-St. Paul area and 

Mall of America, the largest shopping and entertainment mall in the U.S. The Mall 

of America alone attracts more than 3 million international visitors annually. 

Our most important international market is Canada; we have seen significant 

growth in the number of Canadian visitors in the past year. Other target markets 

include the United Kingdom, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan, and 

Mexico. Minnesota sees tremendous growth opportunities for new markets such as 

China. For cost-effective international marketing, Explore Minnesota works with 

coalitions of other states, such as Great Lakes USA and Mississippi River Country. 

34 

These partnerships allow us to expand our reach by working with other states on 

common goals. 

Minnesota’s travel and tourism industry is showing signs of gradual improvement 

compared to our industry’s health just a few years ago. This reflects the slow recovery U.S. travel is undergoing following the significant toll the recession took on this 

industry. In Minnesota, we have seen a gradual increase in hotel occupancy and revenues as leisure travel rebounds and businesses begin to spend more on travel 

again. We are also starting to see longer haul travel and an increase interest in 

travel from abroad. International travel can significantly help the hospitality industry Minnesota and other states recover from the impacts of the recession. In addition, the United States needs to be ready to compete effectively in the international 

travel market as the global economy expands in years to come. 

As Minnesota and other states strive to attract new visitors from abroad, it is important that the U.S. is welcoming and makes it easier for visitors to come to our 

country. America’s burdensome visa process drives millions of international visitors 

to other countries, which imposes an enormous cost for Minnesota and all of our 

fifty states. Key to economic growth and job creation in the travel sector is a smarter visa policy to reduce wait times and increase ease of travel. As director of the 

state of Minnesota’s official tourism agency, I strongly support the International 

Travel Facilitation Act. 

Facilitating the visa process is important, but it is not the only thing that we can 

do. I am very pleased that Congress last year authorized the Corporation for Travel 

Promotion to create a strong brand for the U.S.A. in the international travel market. This public and private program is exactly the kind of effort we should be making as a country to speak with one voice, cut through the clutter, and increase the 

market share of travelers to this incredible collection of fifty diverse states. Efforts 

such as these promote the entire country and bring jobs and growth for us all. 

Travel and tourism is a huge economic driver for jobs, economic development and 

state revenue for all fifty states. I greatly appreciate all the efforts this committee 

has made to support travel promotion and travel-related jobs in the U.S. and the 

attention that you are giving our industry through hearings such as this. Travel and 

tourism works for Minnesota, works for America, and works for us all. Thank you, 

Madam Chair and committee members, for giving travel and tourism the attention 

that it deserves. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Mr. Edman. 

Mr. Zuk? 

STATEMENT OF JONATHAN ZUK, PRESIDENT, 

AMADEO TRAVEL SOLUTIONS/VICE CHAIRMAN, 

RECEPTIVE SERVICES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA 

Mr. ZUK. Madam Chair Klobuchar, Senator Blunt and members 

of the Committee, it’s indeed an honor to appear before you today. 

The Receptive Services Association of America, RSAA, is a national nonprofit trade association whose primary mission is to facilitate international travel to and within the United States. 

The Association’s members include resident United States inbound tour operators and destination management companies, 

tourist service suppliers such as hotels, transportation companies, 

attractions, as well as a host of other U.S. tourism product suppliers. A significant portion of our members would be called small 

businesses. 

Acting as facilitators, the Receptive tour operators provide a commercially viable opportunity for small and often financially challenged destinations, attractions and tourism suppliers to market 

themselves on a worldwide basis through a direct pipeline to the 

international traveler. 

This enables these small businesses to expand their global reach 

and benefit from our extensive expertise and partnerships. 

Our members’ main function is as a bridge between the international traveler and the tourism service provider in the United 

35 

States. We achieve this goal by working closely with tour companies around the world who specialize in selling the United States 

as a travel destination. These overseas colleagues will call on our 

members to organize all the components or many of them of a 

guest’s visit. 

RSAA members specialize in developing memorable experience 

for international travelers by contracting hotels, tours, excursions 

and many more. These products are marketed and sold internationally through our tour company clients. 

Foreign tour companies that sell the USA as a tourist destination 

generally belong to a marketing organization called Visit USA. 

Visit USA committees are nonprofit organizations that have been 

established in most of the countries which comprise the main 

source of visitors to the United States, typically the visa waiver 

countries, and whose sole purpose is to promote travel to the USA. 

These tour companies are specialists in selling and promoting 

tourism in various destinations around the world including but not 

limited to the United States. 

In the absence of any nationally or federally funded program, 

RSAA members, together with Visit USA members, have traditionally shouldered the burden of marketing and promoting and selling 

the United States as a tourist destination. 

For example, Visit USA Europe represents more than 13 countries within Europe and includes most of the top ten source markets for the USA. RSAA and Visit USA Europe work in a strategic 

partnership whose purpose is to facilitate and increase travel to the 

United States. 

RSAA members are the only link in the entire tourism chain that 

depends solely on the international traveler for their livelihood and 

are acutely and instantly aware of any changes or trends in their 

source markets. 

This role has resulted in a wealth of knowledge and expertise unparalleled in any sector of the travel industry. 

RSAA members are responsible for driving approximately 6 billion export dollars in annual spending by overseas visitors in the 

United States and hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide benefit from this expenditure. 

Department of Commerce estimates the total number of leisure 

visitors to the United States at 14.6 million visitors of which 8 million arrive from our partners in Europe. 

Our members are intimately involved with over 30 percent of 

that total and are a major factor in other sectors such as business 

travel, meeting and conventions. Increased travel to the United 

States immediately results in new jobs and economic growth. 

On the other hand, you must recognize that reduced travel to the 

United States costs our country jobs and leads to the loss of many 

small tourism-oriented businesses across the country. 

It is paramount that our nation’s efforts are correctly focused and 

creative, and in a collaborative atmosphere with our tourism partners around the world. 

We caution that an international marketing approach must involve our foreign partners who already have the knowledge and expertise to send tourists to the United States, and failure to do so 

would create a backlash that would create the opposite effect. 

36 

Since the Travel Promotion Act was first proposed, we have enthusiastically supported any and all efforts to promote visits to the 

United States and we fully support the creation of the CTP, now 

Brand USA Inc. 

And RSAA and Visit USA Europe are experts in promoting and 

marketing the USA as a tourist destination, and although we have 

yet to collaborate we look forward to building and working with 

Brand USA in building an unsurpassed worldwide marketing program. 

The competition to attract the international long-haul traveler is 

fierce, and even though we have not had an international federal 

program, international demand for the United States has maintained strong levels and competing destinations have suffered from 

political and natural disasters which have an immediate effect on 

travel. 

The cloud on the horizon is the international economic situation 

and the loss of disposable income to the middle class around the 

world. These are the people who make up the bulk of our international visitors. 

The good news is that in turbulent times the world seeks out the 

stability and comfort of the United States and its strong currency. 

However, in the arena of international competition for the world 

traveler, the United States does suffer from a disadvantage due to 

visa rules and we urge you to add to and expand the list of the visa 

waiver countries and encourage a faster, cheaper and less cumbersome way to process the visa applications. 

It is our belief that by working together to use all our advantages 

and capabilities we will be able to succeed and thrive to make the 

United States this nation of choice for tourists worldwide. 

Thank you for having us here today and I’m free to answer any 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Zuk follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JONATHAN ZUK, PRESIDENT, AMADEO TRAVEL SOLUTIONS/ 

VICE CHAIRMAN, RECEPTIVE SERVICES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Senator Blunt and members of the Committee, it is indeed an honor to appear before you today. My name is Jonathan Zuk, and I am the 

Vice Chairman of the Receptive Services Association of America. 

The Receptive Services Association of America (RSAA) is a national non-profit 

trade association whose primary mission is to facilitate international travel to and 

within the United States. 

The Association’s members include resident United States inbound tour operators 

and destination management companies, tour service suppliers such as hotels, 

transportation companies, attractions, destinations as well as a host of other U.S. 

tourism product suppliers. A significant portion of our members would be classified 

as ‘‘Small Businesses’’. 

Acting as facilitator’s receptive tour operators provide a commercially viable opportunity for small, and often financially challenged destinations, attractions, and 

other tourism suppliers to market themselves on a worldwide basis through our direct pipeline to the international traveler. This enables these small businesses to 

expand their global reach and to benefit from our extensive expertise and partnerships. Our member’s main function is as a ‘‘bridge’’ between the international traveler and the tourism service provider in the United States. We achieve this goal by 

working closely with tour companies around the world who specialize in selling the 

United States as a travel destination. These overseas colleagues will call on our 

members to organize many, if not all the components of a guests visit. We provide 

one stop shopping. 

To facilitate these services our member’s contract with and purchase tourism 

products from providers throughout the 50 states and Puerto Rico. These products 

37 

cover a comprehensive range, from popular destinations, and attractions to the 

rural, extraordinary and off the beaten path, areas. 

RSAA members specialize in providing memorable experiences for international 

travelers, including hotels, tours, excursions, dude ranches, sailing adventures, bike 

tours, off road vehicles, back country visits, helicopter rides, restaurant reservations, tickets to attractions and theater and many more. 

These products are marketed and sold internationally through our tour company 

clients. 

Foreign tour companies that sell the USA, as a tourist destination generally belong to a marketing organization called Visit USA. Visit USA committees are nonprofit organizations that have been established in most of the countries which comprise the main source of visitors to the United States (typically the visa waiver 

countries) and whose sole purpose is to promote travel to the USA. These tour companies are specialists in selling and promoting tourism in various destinations 

around the world, including, but not limited to, the United States. 

In the absence of any ‘‘national or federally funded program’’, RSAA members together with Visit USA members have traditionally shouldered the burden of marketing, promoting and selling the United States as a tourist destination worldwide. 

For Example, Visit USA Europe represents more than 13 countries within Europe 

and includes most of the top 10 source markets for the USA, such as the United 

Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain while also representing important growth 

markets such as Russia. 

RSAA and VISIT USA Europe work in a strategic partnership whose purpose is 

to facilitate and increase travel to the United States. 

RSAA members are the only link in the entire tourism chain that depends solely 

on the international traveler for their livelihood and are acutely and instantly aware 

of any changes or trends in their source markets. This unique role has resulted in 

a wealth of knowledge and expertise unparalleled in any sector of the travel industry. This knowledge serves as the foundation for the world traveler visiting the 

United States and its influence is substantial, especially in the perennial top ten 

visitor countries for the USA. 

RSAA members are responsible for driving approximately 6 Billion export dollars 

in annual spending by overseas visitors in the United States, and hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide that benefit from this expenditure. The Department of 

Commerce estimates the total number of leisure visitors to the United States per 

year at 14.6 million visitors, of which 8 million arrive from our partners in Europe. 

Our members are intimately involved in facilitating and organizing over 30 percent 

of that total, and are a major factor in other sectors such as business travel, meeting 

and conventions, education programs summer camps and many more. If they come 

here we will facilitate it. 

Increased travel to the United States immediately results in new jobs and economic growth, on the other hand we must also recognize that reduced travel to the 

United States costs our country jobs and leads to the loss of many small tourism 

oriented businesses across the country. It is therefore paramount that our Nation’s 

efforts are correctly focused and create a collaborative atmosphere with our tourism 

partners around the world. 

RSAA cautions that an international marketing approach must involve our foreign partners who already have the knowledge and expertise to send tourists to the 

United States. Failure to utilize existing partners may cause a backlash that would 

create the opposite effect on our overall numbers as a country. 

Since the Travel Promotion Act was first proposed we have enthusiastically supported any and all efforts to promote visits to the United States. We fully support 

the creation of the CTP, now Brand USA Inc, and look forward to participating in 

any and all of their marketing efforts. 

We stand ready to lend our expertise and unique knowledge to the Brand USA 

Inc management team and will be delighted to contribute our unsurpassed ‘‘local’’ 

knowledge. Brand USA Inc has a huge task ahead of it and many different segments of the market are poised to participate in the effort and programs. Satisfying 

everyone is not an enviable task. However as I have indicated our segment of the 

industry is the only sector that encompasses all of the other sectors and offers unparalleled expertise. 

The competition to attract the International ‘‘Long Haul’’ Traveler is fierce and 

the budgets that are spent by rival countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and others are always significant, even though we have not had a national or Federal program, international demand for travel to the United States has 

maintained very strong levels. Competing destinations have suffered from political 

economic turmoil and natural disasters which have an immediate effect on travel. 

Within this context the United States is seen as a safe destination with world class 

38 

services, facilities, attractions and activities. The cloud on the horizon is the international economic situation and the loss of disposable income to the middle class 

around the world. These are the people who make up the bulk of our international 

visitors. We feel that in turbulent times, the world seeks out the stability and comfort of the United States and its strong currency. 

In the arena of international competition for the world traveler, the United States 

does suffer from a disadvantage due to the Visa rules, the processing cost and time. 

While we understand and support any and all efforts to maintain a high level of 

security, throughout the country, we urge you to explore the option of adding to the 

visa Waiver countries. To seek a faster cheaper and less cumbersome way to process 

visa applications. We are confident that this will help grow the number of visitors 

to the United States. 

Through all of this, the demand for travel to the United States is still growing 

and there is an opportunity for Brand USA and the industry to capitalize on this 

momentum. It is our belief that by working together to use all our advantages and 

capabilities, we will be able to succeed and thrive to make the United States the 

destination of choice for tourists worldwide. 

Thank you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Tisch? 

STATEMENT OF JONATHAN TISCH, CO-CHAIR OF THE BOARD, 

LOEWS CORPORATION, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

OFFICER, LOEWS HOTELS 

Mr. TISCH. Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt and 

members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to speak 

today on an issue that is of critical importance to America’s economy, specifically, the need to boost our competitiveness when it 

comes to attracting international travelers. 

Under your joint direction, this Subcommittee has been reenergized and our industry welcomes and appreciates your leadership. 

As you’ve heard, America’s travel industry generates nearly $1.7, 

$1.8 trillion of economic output annually and directly employs 7.5 

million Americans. 

The hotels and the accommodations segment in which my com- pany, Loews Hotels, operates accounts for nearly $131 billion in 

economic output and 1.7 million Americans make a living in this 

segment of travel and tourism, and we operate more than 53,000 

places of business nationwide. 

Nearly one-fifth of those jobs depend on international travel. 

More importantly, international travel is where the jobs of the future should be created. Between 2000 and 2010, the world experienced an international travel boom or at least some of it did. 

During that decade, long-haul travel to China and India grew by 

more than 120 percent. Italy was up 48 percent and Japan 32 percent. 

How did we perform? The U.S. was up just 2 percent. Globally, 

our market share fell from 17 percent in 2000 to, as you’ve heard, 

12.4 percent in 2010. The economic stakes here are enormous. 

Our government should establish a national goal of reclaiming 

our share of the overseas travel market. Regaining our 17 percent 

market share would attract an additional 98 million visitors to the 

U.S., generating more than 1 million new jobs and $859 billion in 

economic output, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Now, 

how do we reach that goal? 

First, Congress should continue to support the Corporation for 

Travel Promotion or, as we now know it, Brand USA. Just this 

39 

year alone, the U.K., South Korea and Mexico all rolled out campaigns to promote their countries to international travelers. If the 

U.S. is going to compete, Brand USA has a critical role to play. 

Second, we must reform America’s burdensome and bureaucratic 

visa system. While other countries are winning more global travel 

business, our visa system operates like a giant ‘‘not welcome’’ sign. 

In China, there are only five U.S. visa-processing centers to serve 

a country of 1.3 billion people. Many potential Chinese visitors 

must travel hundreds of miles to apply for a visa only to confront 

long lines, cramped facilities and hard-working but overstretched 

consular officers. 

The travel industry is working closely with the State Department, particularly with Deputy Secretary Tom Nides, to implement 

reforms and improve the process. 

One area where Congress can make a substantial impact is, as 

you’ve heard, expanding the visa waiver program. Adding countries 

like Brazil, Poland and Chile could quickly double the number of 

arrivals from these three countries, generating an additional $7 billion in spending and creating another 50,000 American jobs. 

I would like to thank Chairwoman Klobuchar and Subcommittee 

members Blunt, Heller and Warner, and Senators Mikulski and 

Kirk for championing legislation to make the visa process more efficient and more effective. Senators Schumer and Lee have also 

demonstrated strong leadership by introducing the Visit USA Act. 

These bills and others recently introduced in the Senate and the 

House represent important steps toward improving our visa process 

and making the U.S. a more welcoming destination. 

And third, another strategic priority must be addressed when we 

look at America’s inadequate infrastructure and, specifically, our 

aviation infrastructure. 

One visit to a U.S. airport is usually enough to persuade visitors 

that our aviation infrastructure is antiquated, inefficient and 

unwelcoming. U.S. aviation infrastructure ranks 32nd in the world 

behind countries like Panama, Chile and Malaysia. 

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. aviation infrastructure a D grade. Modernizing and upgrading our aviation infrastructure requires significant investment but consider the costs 

that are already imposed on our economy. 

Flight delays at New York’s three major airports cost the regional economy $2.6 billion in 2008 and the estimates are by 2025 

that number will be $79 billion. Unfortunately, plans to modernize 

America’s infrastructure are as gridlocked as our nation’s airports. 

The Surface Transportation Act expired in 2009. It is now on its 

eighth temporary extension. Legislation to fund the next-generation air transportation system is mired in controversy. This needs 

to change and needs to change quickly. 

We should also pursue innovative public-private partnerships to 

leverage our resources. The main point that I would like to impress 

upon you is the huge potential of the global travel market. Tapping 

into this potential starts by establishing a national goal of reclaiming America’s 17 percent of that market share and enacting the 

policies to get us there. 

In my industry alone, restoring the U.S. share to 2000 levels 

would create more than 400,000 new jobs by 2015. 

40 

1 ‘‘Outlook for the U.S. Lodging Industry,’’ Smith Travel Research, October 27, 2011. 

2 Ibid. 

3 U.S. Travel Association. 

4 Ibid. 

5 Ibid. 

6 U.S. Travel Association, based on Oxford Economics data. 

7Office of Travel & Tourism Industries; Oxford Economics, as cited in Ready for Takeoff, U.S. 

Travel Association. 8Department of Commerce, as cited in Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 9 Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 

As Chairman Emeritus of the U.S. Travel Association, I can tell 

you that our members stand united and ready to work with you to 

help America compete and win in this very competitive market. 

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Tisch follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JONATHAN TISCH, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER, LOEWS HOTELS AND CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION

Chairwoman Klobuchar, Ranking Member Blunt, members of the Committee: 

Thank you for inviting me to speak today about an issue of critical importance to 

America’s economy—specifically, the U.S. travel industry and the need to boost our 

competitiveness when it comes to attracting international travelers. Under your 

joint direction, this subcommittee has been re-energized—and our industry welcomes and appreciates your leadership. 

For the first time in several years, the travel industry is finally seeing evidence 

that the recovery is taking hold. Hotel demand and occupancy are both up over the 

last year.1 Our baseline economic metric—‘‘revenue per available room’’—is up 8.3 

percent industry-wide.2 That’s a positive sign for both our industry and the overall 

economy. 

America’s travel industry is responsible for generating nearly $1.8 trillion of economic output annually and directly employing 7.5 million Americans.3 The hotels 

and accommodations segment in which my company, Loews Hotels, operates accounts for nearly $131 billion in economic output and 1.75 million American jobs 

at more than 53,000 places of business nationwide.4

Nearly one-fifth of those jobs are dependent on international travel.5 More importantly, international travel is where the jobs of the future could be—should be—created. The most lucrative segment of the travel market—international long-haul 

travel—grew by 40 percent over the last 10 years and is projected to grow another 

40 percent over the next ten.6

Between 2000 and 2010, the world experienced an international travel boom—or 

at least most of it did. During that decade, long-haul travel to China grew by 126 

percent; travel to India shot up 124 percent. Italy was up 48 percent, Japan 32 percent and Australia 23 percent.7

And how did the U.S. perform during this global travel ‘‘gold rush?’’ Long-haul 

travel to the U.S. was up a paltry 2 percent. Globally, our share of this critical market fell from 17 percent in 2000 to just 12.4 percent in 2010.8

The economic stakes here are truly enormous. Our government should establish 

a national goal of reclaiming our share of the international travel market. 

Consider this fact: Each overseas traveler to the U.S. spends an average of $4,000 

during a visit.9 Simply regaining our 17 percent market share would attract an additional 98 million visitors to the U.S.—generating more than one million new jobs 

and $859 billion in economic output, according to the U.S. Travel Association. 

So now the critical question: How do we reach that national goal? 

Today, I’d like to briefly outline three strategic policy priorities that will enhance 

America’s competitiveness in attracting international visitors and create a new 

stream of growth in our economy. 

First, Congress should continue to support the Corporation for Travel Promotion— 

now known as Brand USA—established under the Travel Promotion Act, a landmark piece of legislation which was made possible due to the strong support of 

members like Chairwoman Klobuchar, Senator Begich and then-Representative 

Blunt. Jim Evans, CEO of Brand USA is here today to update you on the exciting 

work of this innovative, public-private partnership, the first-ever advertising and 

promotion campaign aimed at bringing more overseas travelers to the U.S. 

41 

10 U.S. Travel Association based on data from Office of Travel & Tourism Industries and Oxford Economics, as cited in Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 11 Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 12 Ibid. 13 Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 14 Ibid. 15 U.S. Travel Association. 16 Ibid. 17 Ready for Takeoff, U.S. Travel Association. 18 Ibid. 19 U.S. Travel Association. 

In today’s difficult fiscal environment, every program must justify its budget—and 

Brand USA is no exception. That’s why I believe it is critical to underscore that not 

one single taxpayer dollar goes to support this organization. 

While Congress and the Administration should be applauded for their leadership 

in enacting this legislation, it’s important to recognize that the U.S. is really playing 

catch up when it comes to competing in the market for international travelers. Right 

now, Western Europe currently captures 37 percent of outbound travelers from 

China, Brazil and India compared to just 16 percent for the U.S.10 But our European competitors are working to gain even more market share—at our expense. This 

year, the U.K. announced a goal of bringing four million more overseas visitors to 

the country over the next four years—and is dedicating the resources to make it 

happen.11

The U.S. is also facing competition outside Western Europe. South Korea recently 

launched the Visit Korea campaign aimed at attracting 8.5 million additional travelers. Just to our south, the Mexican government has labeled 2011 ‘‘the year of tourism’’ as part of its effort to make Mexico one of the world’s top five tourist destinations.12

The second policy priority centers on reforming America’s burdensome, bureaucratic, costly visa system. At a time when other countries are actively competing to 

win more global travel business, our visa system operates like a giant ‘‘Not Welcome’’ sign. 

Reform starts by increasing visa access for the millions of people seeking to travel 

to the U.S. 

There are twenty-seven cities in China with populations greater than two million 

people—and no U.S. visa processing center for prospective travelers.13 In the entire 

country, only five U.S. visa processing centers serve China’s 1.3 billion people.14

Many potential Chinese visitors to the U.S. must travel hundreds of miles to apply 

for a visa. Once they arrive, they often confront long lines, cramped facilities and 

hard-working but over-stretched consular officers. 

To be fair, the U.S. State Department, which administers our visa system, has 

recently taken steps to make America’s visa process more efficient and more userfriendly in select countries. The travel industry has been working closely with the 

State Department to identify opportunities for improvement and to implement the 

necessary reforms. I’d especially like to commend Deputy Secretary Tom Nides for 

his commitment to this effort. 

As a result of reforms already undertaken, wait times for Chinese citizens who 

wish to obtain a visa have decreased from more than 60 days in the past year to 

just 12 days in October.15 This is progress, but more work remains to be done. As 

of this week, travelers from Brazil’s capital city are still waiting more than 100 days 

for their visas to be processed.16

Rapidly-growing countries like China, Brazil and India represent the future of the 

global travel industry. Over the next decade, long-haul travel from these three countries is expected to grow by more than 100 percent 17—a potential market of millions 

of additional travelers that is literally up for grabs. But to seize this opportunity, 

we must be prepared to meet the increased demand for U.S. visas. 

Fixing our visa system requires action on two fronts. Where the State Department 

can act alone, it should do so—and make it a high priority. But Congress also has 

a critical role to play. 

One area where Congress can have a substantial impact is expanding the Visa 

Waiver Program. Countries participating in this program work with the State Department to allow their citizens to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa. 

In 2010, 65 percent of the 26 million overseas travelers to the U.S. came from the 

36 countries in the Visa Waiver Program.18 Adding countries such as Brazil, Poland 

and Chile could quickly double arrivals from these three countries, generating an 

additional $7 billion in spending in the U.S. and creating more than 50,000 American jobs.19

42 

20 Airports Council International, as cited in, ‘‘World’s Busiest Airports, as Listed by the Airports Council International,’’ Huffington Post, March 16, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ 

2011/03/16/worlds-busiest-airports-a_n_836220.html#s254206&title=1_Atlanta_89331622. 21 ‘‘The 10 Best Airports in the World,’’ Business Insider, March 30, 2011, http://www. 

businessinsider.com/best-airports-in-the-world-2011–3?op=1. 22 ‘‘Report Card for America’s Infrastructure,’’ American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009 

http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/. 23 New York Times, Dec. 24, 2008. 24 ‘‘Grounded: The High Cost of Air Traffic Congestion,’’ Partnership for New York City, February 2009 http://www.pfnyc.org/reports/2009_0225_airport_congestion.pdf. 25 U.S. Senate and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, http://republicans. 

transportation.house.gov/singlepages.aspx/911. 

I would like to thank Chairwoman Klobuchar and Senator Begich for co-sponsoring S. 497—a bill introduced by Senators Mikulski and Kirk which would expand 

the Visa Waiver Program. 

But boosting the number of countries in the Visa Waiver Program is not enough. 

That is why I also applaud Chairwoman Klobuchar and Subcommittee Members 

Blunt, Heller and Warner for championing legislation that would incentivize the 

State Department to make the visa process more efficient and effective. This bill 

would give the State Department the ability to reinvest visa fees to hire more consular officers. It also allows the Department to waive visa interviews for three years 

for travelers who previously held a visa. 

Senators Schumer and Lee have also demonstrated strong leadership by introducing the VISIT U.S.A. Act. This bill would make it easier for Chinese citizens to 

visit the U.S.; expedite the visa process for travelers willing to pay a premium; and 

create new guidelines that would make it easier for the Departments of State and 

Homeland Security to designate new countries for the Visa Waiver Program. 

The third and final strategic priority I would like to address is America’s inadequate infrastructure, specifically our aviation infrastructure: the runways, terminals, security checkpoints and air traffic control systems that serve as a gateway 

to our Nation for international travelers. 

One visit to a U.S. airport is usually enough to persuade visitors that our aviation 

infrastructure is antiquated, inefficient and unwelcoming, but here are a few facts 

to back up the case: 

• According to the Building America’s Future Education Foundation, the U.S. 

aviation infrastructure ranks 32nd in the world behind countries like Panama, 

Chile and Malaysia. 

• Five of the world’s 10 busiest airports are in the U.S.20—but not a single U.S. 

airport made the list of the world’s 10 best.21

• The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. aviation infrastructure a 

‘‘D’’—and they were grading on a curve.22

The simple fact is, our runways cannot keep up with demand; our aging terminals 

were not designed to handle modern security needs; and our air traffic control system relies on ground-based radar technology that is more than a half-century old. 

A new car equipped with GPS has a more sophisticated navigation system than the 

average commercial airliner. The result: Flight delays, long waits on the tarmac and 

security chokepoints that frustrate and deter both international and domestic travelers. 

No wonder New York Times columnist Tom Friedman recently wrote that landing 

at Kennedy airport after a trip from Hong Kong was like ‘‘going from the Jetsons 

to the Flintstones.’’ 23

Modernizing and upgrading our aviation infrastructure will require a significant 

investment, but consider the costs already being imposed on our economy. Flight 

delays at New York’s three major airports cost the regional economy $2.6 billion in 

2008, according to a study by the Partnership for New York City. By 2025, the costs 

due to expensive delays, lost productivity, wasted fuel and harmful pollution could 

reach a cumulative $79 billion.24

Unfortunately, when it comes to implementing long-term plans to modernize and 

upgrade America’s infrastructure, Washington’s legislative process is almost as gridlocked as our Nation’s airports. The Surface Transportation Act expired in 2009 and 

is currently on its eighth temporary extension.25 Legislation to fully fund the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System is mired in controversy. 

Meeting these challenges will require bipartisan leadership. Perhaps it will require new thinking, as well. I, for one, believe we should also be pursuing innovative 

public-private partnerships to leverage increasingly scarce resources. One interesting idea is Los Angeles County’s ‘‘30/10 initiative’’—a proposal to use local reveVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
43 

26http://www.metro.net/projects/30–10/. 27 U.S. Travel Association. 

nues and Federal loans to fast-track construction on vital infrastructure with the 

goal of completing 30 years’ worth of projects in just 10 years.26

The main point I would like to impress upon you is the huge potential of the global travel market. Tapping into this potential promises to generate U.S. economic 

growth, promote job creation and spur small business expansion. The process starts 

by establishing a national goal of reclaiming America’s 17 percent share of the global travel market. 

In my industry alone, simply restoring the U.S. share to 2000 levels would create 

more than 400,000 new jobs by 2015.27 Working together—Democrats and Republicans, Congress and Administration, government and industry—we can compete 

and win in this fiercely competitive market. As Chairman Emeritus of the U.S. 

Travel Association, I can tell you that our members stand united and ready to work 

with you to accomplish our common goals. 

Given this industry’s presence in 50 states and 435 congressional districts; primacy as an economic force in both rural and urban America; and the capacity for 

near instantaneous job creation through expansion and new business start-ups— 

surely these issues should earn the bipartisan support that they deserve. 

I thank you again for inviting me and look forward to answering any questions 

from the Committee. 

# # # 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. 

Senator Begich has agreed to take over my presiding time at 4 

so he is going first. 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have to 

make it to the floor by 4 o’clock so I’m just going to ask one quick 

question. I have some for the record. But Mr. Tisch—Jonathan, 

thank you for your comments on the infrastructure. 

The FAA bill, as you know, with next-gen could make a huge impact. I think you made it very clear, and it’s interesting because 

usually we hear from the aviation industry about the importance 

of the FAA bill. 

So your voice and other industry out there is an important part 

of this equation. 

So I thank you for that. And the more you can generate that interest, especially the way you played it here wasn’t about just improving safety, which is an important part, it’s about the impact of 

travelers to and from communities outside of the United States 

coming here and what that means for job creation. So thank you 

for putting that on the record. 

Let me ask you, in your written testimony you do go into a lot 

about the infrastructure. Here’s one piece of infrastructure and tell 

me your thoughts on this and that is visitors from around the 

world come to the United States not only to visit great cities and 

great communities but they come to our national parks and our 

park systems and our natural environments. 

Alaska, obviously, that’s a huge part of our equation and how we 

attract so much. Give me your thoughts there because you talked 

about water, roads and airports but what about that piece of the 

infrastructure? How does that play into the industry and do we do 

enough? 

Mr. TISCH. Well, Senator, as you know, the United States is 

blessed with so many demand generators. There are reasons why 

people want to come here, and now with Brand USA, with other 

44 

marketing campaigns, we are articulating a vision for how we in 

the industry feel we can handle them once they get here. 

But if our infrastructure is broken, if it is like a third-world nation, then they are going to leave with a bad impression, and their 

comments to their neighbors and their family members are so important. When you talk about our national parks, clearly, they are 

a major reason why people want to come here. 

It’s not just the big cities. It’s not just New York, in my case, or 

Las Vegas or you as a former mayor understand that, coming from 

Anchorage. You understand why people travel. 

But there is so much for them to do once they get here and that’s 

why the international traveler stays longer in a destination than 

the domestic traveler. They move around the country. They come 

in through—certainly, through the gateway cities but then once 

they’re here they move on. 

And it’s important for all of our infrastructure to be looked at in 

a way that we can keep it vibrant, we can keep it strong and we 

can stay competitive. And the reason I started talking about these 

issues is that I took my family to Australia and Hong Kong in 

March, and I will quote Tom Friedman, who made a similar trip 

like I made, ‘‘flying from Hong Kong to JFK is like going from the 

Jetsons to the Flintstones.’’ 

[Laughter.] 

And I landed at Kennedy after leaving Hong Kong some 14 hours 

earlier and I was appalled, and I think we have to keep the competition of countries that want travelers coming to them in mind 

as we look at all these issues but infrastructure plays out in so 

many areas and, certainly, your comment about America’s great 

parks are an important aspect of that. 

Senator BEGICH. Thank you very much. 

I apologize I have to leave. But as you travel quite a bit, I have 

to travel a lot to get back home, to say the least. 

But one trip I took recently was through San Francisco’s Airport 

and there was a segment that was renovated. I think it was Virgin 

Air was utilizing it and I have to tell you it was an interesting experience. TSA, very customer oriented at that one location. Going 

into it you could tell it was all renovated, very pleasing when you 

walk through there. 

It was a very interesting environment than some of the airports 

that I’m sure you’ve traveled through and I’ve traveled through. I 

know in our airport in Anchorage it’s an incredible renovation 

we’ve done there. 

But it was interesting on the lower 48 going through that airport. That segment was very interesting and impressive and the 

couple pieces I took some notes on what we could do to improve. 

So thank you very much. Thank you to all of you and Brand 

USA, fantastic. Thank you. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much, Senator Begich. 

I’d also note as you listed the people involved with the visa legislation Senator Begich is also one of the co-authors. 

Senator Blunt, your questions? 

Senator BLUNT. I thank the Chairman. 

Mr. Tisch, thanks again for all your help with the Travel Promotion Act and the Travel Promotion Corporation, and I’ve heard 

45 

and share your frustration with infrastructure within the existing 

system. I mean, you’ve run a hotel chain that, you know, caters to 

families and pets and what—you try to be what people want you 

to be. 

What could we do within the existing system to try to make that 

more welcoming? And obviously, I think everybody on this Committee is for—are infrastructure believers and we know we need to 

do that but what could we do in the shorter term to make some 

of those facilities more welcoming, do you think? 

Mr. TISCH. Well, Senator, when you look at the various entities 

that make up our country’s travel and tourism industry, you see 

segments that, obviously, as you’ve mentioned, deal with people individually. 

They deal with them in crowds. They deal with families. They 

deal with business travelers. I’m thinking of the airlines. I’m thinking of hotels. I’m thinking of the attractions. And over the years, 

the industry has offered to work with Homeland Security and the 

State Department to discuss ideas, best practices, for how we do 

things. 

How do you keep a crowd at Disney or Universal happy when 

they’re walking up to a line and it says 1-hour wait? What are the 

ways that we can look at to break down the inherent frustration 

with travel? 

Things are going to happen. It’s just the nature of the beast. 

There’s going to be bad weather. There are going to be delays. But 

what can we do as an industry working with certain government 

agencies to talk about what’s been successful for us? 

And a couple of years ago, Disney put together a film when Jay 

Rasulo was then chair of the U.S. Travel Association. Jay is now 

CFO at Disney but he was head of Resorts, and actually Jay and 

I testified in this very room to talk about the Travel Promotion Act 

and to look at the way we can do things. 

And just as Disney put together this film that’s played at a couple U.S. airports I think that’s an example of what we can do in 

terms of industry helping government agencies, using some of our 

experience to really tackle some of the challenges that travelers 

feel. 

Senator BLUNT. Thank you. 

Mr. Evans, we’ve talked a lot about the visa countries that require visas and how we need to be sure that process works correctly. 

But there are lots of countries that don’t require visas and how 

does that figure into your strategy for Brand USA—where you are 

spending your money, who are some of your partners. What’s your 

plan for the next couple of years as it relates to targeting? 

Mr. EVANS. Our key target markets will be identified through extensive research, through working with the Commerce Department, 

really looking at the population, their current travel, the potential 

of their travel, the average spend of their travel to make sure that 

we’re investing where the best opportunities are. 

So we’ll begin with—more than likely we’ll begin with traditional 

market places like the U.K., Canada, Mexico, Japan. 

But as we get our footing and our funds raised and our expenditures at the levels we need then we will expand our marketing 

46 

into, you know, India, China, Brazil and that, obviously, is going 

to happen in this first year, we believe. 

Senator BLUNT. And in terms of raising money from partners, 

what’s happening there? 

Mr. EVANS. We’ve done well, I believe. We’ve raised $4.3 million 

in cash and we’ve raised over $12 million in in-kind and we will 

be taking our first tranche to Commerce next week for approval so 

that we can draw down from the ESTA funds, and the ESTA funds 

right now are $123 million. 

Senator BLUNT. One hundred and twenty three right now? 

Mr. EVANS. Hundred and twenty-three. 

Senator BLUNT. And the reception in London to your rollout of 

Brand USA? 

Mr. EVANS. I’m probably a bit prejudiced but I think that all the 

comments I received were very, very positive. I think as much as 

anything people enjoyed the logo. I think they enjoyed our presentation. 

I think as much as anything friends like the Receptive Service 

Operators and others just saw it was great that America truly is 

in the game now and we’re going to compete. And as John pointed 

out, we’re going to take back our fair share and then some. 

Senator BLUNT. Mr. Zuk, do you believe that this marketing 

overseas will make a difference in people traveling and working 

through your organization? 

Mr. ZUK. Thank you, Senator. Yes, we—I was at the launch in 

London as well and from the press release on Monday morning 

through the party on Tuesday, the general feeling from all our clients, which are the people who facilitate the travel to the U.S., especially in the visa waiver countries, is that finally the USA has 

a brand and has an overseeing, let’s say national body that will facilitate travel, and definitely everybody’s looking forward to working with Brand USA to create even more of our share. 

It’s an easy sale because people want to come to America, thanks 

to Hollywood, thanks to publicity, thanks to many different things 

and our obviously natural attractions that we have throughout the 

country, and this will only serve to enhance as long as we work together and make it much better than it’s been before. 

Senator BLUNT. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Evans, you spoke with Senator Blunt about some of the work 

that’s being done. What do you see as the challenges to get the advertising campaign rolling and what steps are you taking to make 

sure the launch is a success? 

Mr. EVANS. We’re, obviously, in a very beginning stages of our 

preparation for our marketing. Our targeted launch for advertising 

campaign is March 7 at ITB, the world’s largest travel industry 

show. 

Between now and then, I think the challenges are making sure 

that the team that we add—or the folks we add to our team—are 

the right folks. 

I think the challenges are making sure that we identify the right 

partners to begin to work on our cooperative efforts, and we’re 

working on that right now. 

47 

Obviously, we need to continue on our business development activities to make sure we get the full $50 million raised this year 

as we have the two-for-one match. 

So I think we’re doing well. JWT is off to a great start with us. 

We’ve actually seen story boards of our campaign already. We’re 

meeting with a variety of small and large destination management 

organizations. 

We’re meeting with several large and small travel industry 

brands. We’re communicating, as Mr. Zuk said. We met last week 

with Visit USA Europe and the United Kingdom to begin that dialogue and to listen to them. 

And so I think we’re putting all the pieces in place. The challenge is making sure we stay organized and focused, raise the 

funds we need, and deliver on time. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. 

Mr. Edman, you talked about how the target markets in Minnesota include the United Kingdom, Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan, Mexico. 

How do you see yourself partnering as this launches with Brand 

USA and how do you reach those markets now as a state with a 

limited budget for your tourism? 

Mr. EDMAN. Well, Madam Chair, right now with our limited 

budget we don’t have the opportunity to do any consumer advertising. A lot of what we do is working with tour operators and the 

media so we can really only scratch the surface. 

The thing that makes me very excited about the launch of Brand 

USA is it gets all diverse 50 states working together as one. As a 

relatively small state, we have 108 convention visitors bureaus in 

our state and a very diverse state, and my job is get them to work 

together. 

Jim has even a bigger job in working with 50 states and up until 

this point all states were kind of—it was a free for all. Every state 

was doing their own international marketing on their own and 

there wasn’t any cohesive brand for the United States. 

So I think this is going to help a state like Minnesota give a 

stronger presence, do things that we cannot do on our own and do 

things in cooperation with other states. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. I will say you’ve done some great ad campaigns in our own state, though, and could you talk about how— 

you mentioned how, because of the economic downturn with some 

improvements this year but people have been making decisions at 

the last minute of where to travel. 

How have you incorporated any of that and how we have handled 

advertising and how you’ve handled trying to work with the industry on some of these things that have come about because of the 

downturn? 

Mr. EDMAN. I think that’s a challenge that every state has had 

over the last three or 4 years, that people are cautious about their 

travel spending dollars. They’re not going as far from home in their 

travel. But now they are starting to branch out a little bit. 

What we’ve learned in all of our states is that people still want 

to travel despite the concerns of the economy, despite the concerns 

about gas prices or whatever. People want to get out and travel. 

48 

That’s a freedom. That’s something that they all enjoy do, they 

need to relieve stress and to explore our incredible country. 

So we’ve kind of responded in some of our advertising. We’ve 

done some changes in terms of what our targets are, who we’re targeting a little closer in. But right now, we’re kind of at the point 

where the country wants to take off in terms of growth in travel 

and tourism. 

There are concerns about travel confidence and the overall economy and unemployment that’s holding people back a little bit. But 

we feel we’re moving in the right direction and efforts such as the 

Brand USA will certainly help get us there. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And you’ve seen over the years increased 

interest in international tourism in our state and what do you attribute that to? This is where you’re supposed to say it’s not the 

weather. 

Mr. EDMAN. Well, earlier I think a question was about what can 

you, as members of the Senate and Congress, do and that’s invest 

in the natural resources, the infrastructure, the bridges, the roads 

that we sometimes take for granted. 

In a state like Minnesota, we may not be on folks’ radar but they 

know about the natural—they know about the Mississippi River. 

They know about the Great Lakes. In fact, we partner with other 

states, the Great Lakes states and states along the Mississippi 

River, to use those common geographies. 

And so I think to sort of answer your question why is there an 

interest, because people are now starting to discover the United 

States and they’re starting to look at what they know. 

Every country is different in terms of what they seek. Japanese 

are very interested in shopping. Germans are very interested in 

outdoor and recreation. Scandinavians are very interested in visiting friends and relatives and things like that in a state like Minnesota. 

But we’re seeing some real growth potential and it’s a market 

that we want to get involved in much more as a state. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. 

Mr. Zuk, Mr. Edman was talking about some of the trends we’re 

seeing and in your testimony you talk about rural tourism as well 

and how people are interested at times in going to some of the outof-the-ordinary attractions that you might not expect, like this 

world’s second largest ball of twine, which is in our state, right, 

Mr. Edman? 

Mr. EDMAN. That’s correct. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. And so I was curious about that. I remember visiting Denmark once with my family where they have those 

farm visits and we actually went to a farm that was advertised. I 

thought, my daughter was 4 years old, she would like that it had 

cows, horses and pigs. It had three cows, one horse and 3,000 pigs. 

But it was actually—we had a great time and I was thinking 

about that in terms of as we roll this out just the rural areas of 

our country beyond the great City of New York and other things 

and what you see as the trends there and the potential as we market our country as a whole to get people to these kinds of destinations. 

Mr. ZUK. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

49 

The United States is viewed as a long-haul destination, which 

means in simple terms that you have to travel far to get there, and 

if we look at Europe as a target market we compete with Australia 

or Brazil or South Africa or the Indian Ocean, which are considered 

long-haul destinations. 

It’s difficult to get people to travel all the way to the U.S. to see 

a rural destination without one of the significant draws. It may not 

be fair but that’s the reality of it. 

If we combine things like that with New York or Las Vegas or 

the traditional visitor destinations like Florida or California, yes, 

there are definitely many markets that are interested in that. 

The Italians, for example, are crazy about dude ranches. Don’t 

know why but they all see themselves as cowboys and they want 

to go to dude ranches. 

So they, do, in Minnesota and in Arizona they go to dude ranches 

all the time. It’s something that they do but they do it in conjunction with. They’ll do it in conjunction with New York or Las Vegas 

or California. They won’t come only for that. 

Rural areas, it’s a little bit more difficult to convince somebody 

to spend the money involved in a long-haul destination for only 

that. That’s why the partnerships and one brand which encompasses the entire country can utilize and we can bring tourists to 

maybe destinations that won’t see tourists unless we do it all together. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Very good. 

Mr. Tisch, one last question here. You talked about with Senator 

Begich about the infrastructure issues and as you know the FAA 

expects the number of passengers on U.S. commercial carriers to 

exceed an astounding 1 billion people by 2015. That level of air 

traffic is going to mean a lot of airplanes in the sky. 

Do predictions like these mean that we need to accelerate the 

transition to next-gen and could you talk about that aviation infrastructure? 

I’m sort of getting at the importance of getting the FAA bill done. 

Not to be a leading question, but with the home of three major airports—well, Newark’s in New Jersey but in your area there, could 

you talk about the importance of aviation improvements in our 

country? 

Mr. TISCH. Senator, the passage of next-gen is essential if we’re 

going to handle the expected capacity that hopefully will come to 

this country over the next few years, the next decade, the next two 

decades. 

Our system is broken and, once again, the competition. When 

you look at China where they’re building something like 15 new 

airports from scratch and not only the airports but the roads that 

lead up to the airports, and not only the roads but subways and 

trains that get you from downtown areas to the airports, that’s the 

competitive nature of travel in today’s world and we have to as a 

country have the focus and the discipline to do something about it. 

These infrastructure improvements and next-gen are very expensive. There’s no doubt about it. 

But we can create public-private partnerships to deal with these 

challenges. If you look what’s happening in Los Angeles County 

now with the program called 30/10 where they’re trying to do 30 

50 

years of infrastructure improvements in the next 10 years and 

they’re using tax dollars as down payments on government loans. 

If you look at the Infrastructure Bank supported by the AFL– 

CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, issues and areas that we 

can agree on publicly, privately, public-private partnerships, use 

offshore investment, use sovereign wealth funds who want to invest 

in this country, this is the focus that we need as a country with 

the private-sector support, and next-gen is an essential part of this 

to make sure that we have an air traffic system that can support 

the expected travel. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Thank you very much. Well said. 

Senator Blunt, do you want to add anything here at the end? 

Senator BLUNT. It was good hearing, Chairman. Thank you for 

putting—helping put both of these panels together and holding the 

hearing, and I think we need to move forward and we look forward 

to our partners working with us as we do that. 

Senator KLOBUCHAR. Well, thank you very much. This was, as I 

said, one of the best news hearings we’ve had in a while, just generally, but also because we are making changes and we know we 

have a lot more work to do and I wanted to say the record will remain open for a week. 

We have eight Senators here. Senator Boozman was also here 

and was here to hear some of the witness testimony, and wanted 

to thank all of you, thank our staff, Senator Blunt’s staff, my staff, 

Margaret McCarthy, her first hearing with me. She used to work 

for Senator Dorgan and was involved in the Travel Promotion Act 

so we’re glad to have her here, as well as the Commerce Committee 

staff for all their work on this hearing. 

Thank you to all our witnesses and everyone here that wants to 

move forward with Brand USA. 

The hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:14 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

(51) 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HON. TOM UDALL, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO

New Mexico describes itself as the ‘‘Land of Enchantment,’’ and each year my 

state welcomes 12 million visitors. This is six times the number of people who call 

New Mexico home. 

Visitors travel from around the world to attend New Mexico’s many festivals and 

cultural events, such as the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and 

Santa Fe Indian Market. With its unique local art community and stunning landscapes from Shiprock to the White Sands dunes, New Mexico has a lot to offer to 

visitors. 

Tourism and travel contribute $5.5 billion to my state’s economy, and represent 

New Mexico’s largest private sector employer. Many of these jobs are in rural areas 

with high rates of unemployment. 

Yet tourism in New Mexico and other parts of the United States provides more 

than an economic boost. Tourism is a form of public diplomacy that fosters good will 

for our country around the world. 

I am pleased to learn today about implementation of the Travel Promotion Act, 

a bill that I was proud to cosponsor. I also particularly look forward to hearing 

about Brand USA and its progress on a new campaign to showcase our Nation’s 

travel destinations and experiences. 

I am hopeful about projections that estimate the tourism industry will improve 

in the next five years. But America must continue to compete for its share of the 

international tourism market in a tough economic climate. 

In conclusion, I want to extend my thanks to Senator Klobuchar for calling this 

hearing today and thank our witnesses for sharing their input and insights into how 

tourism can thrive again here in the United States. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE, INC. 

The following statement is submitted on behalf of Starwood Hotels & Resorts 

Worldwide, Inc., and we are very pleased to begin by commending Chair Klobuchar 

and the Members of the Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export 

Promotion for the work they have done and for their tireless dedication to the promotion of inbound U.S. travel and tourism. We are pleased that you understand the 

potential for economic growth in restoring, and eventually even exceeding, the U.S. 

inbound travel levels that existed pre-9/11. You have focused on some of the legal 

and regulatory issues that need to be addressed if these levels are to be achieved, 

and we look forward to working with you to reach these goals. 

Starwood is well positioned to address the myriad issues that adversely affect inbound U.S. tourism, including those issues that were discussed in your hearing. 

Starwood is one of the world’s largest hotel companies, operating or managing close 

to one thousand properties throughout the world, and employing close to 150,000 

people, in hotels operated under our nine hotel brands. Starwood’s operations reach 

all corners of the globe. We are in a unique position to evaluate and compare the 

policies of the United States with respect to foreign visitors and foreign investment 

with those of U.S. trading partners and competitors. 

We agree that delays in visa processing in key markets, including China, India, 

Brazil and Chile, are having an extremely negative impact on U.S. tourism and applaud the incremental steps that have been taken so far by the State Department 

to address these problems. We applaud as well the creation of Brand USA, Inc. and 

the renewed effort as a result to promote inbound U.S. tourism. 

As to the visa issue itself we recognize that there are limitations on what changes 

can be made administratively, and that budget reductions will also impact the ability to improve the visa system. While Starwood is supportive of the efforts now underway to expand the number of visa windows in key markets, especially China, 

and to hire additional via processing officials, even on a non-career basis, we also 

52 

urge the Congress to seriously consider pending legislative changes to the visa process. In their VISIT-USA Act, Senators Schumer and Lee have made several proposals to provide long term visas to Chinese tourists and for longer term visits by 

Canadian citizens, and to potentially facilitate the visa interview function through 

teleconferencing technology, sparing potential visitors the expense and time needed 

to travel to U.S. Embassies and Consulates, a growing problem in countries such 

as China in which there are already very limited processing facilities. These proposals should be given very serious consideration. 

There is no question that U.S. national security must be protected, but it is telling 

that the wait time for obtaining a visa in Brazil to visit Britain is twelve days, while 

a U.S. visa still takes up to ninety days. Britain has serious national security concerns as well but has somehow managed to understand the concept that it can protect itself from terrorists while opening up its tourism sector. 

The fact is that while much more work needs to be done to address the demand 

for visas, the downturn in U.S. travel and tourism is the result of a much larger 

problem, namely the unfortunate development over time of a set of fundamental 

policies that have made the United States an increasingly less attractive place to 

which to travel, both for tourism and for business, which will not be fully resolved 

through visa reform. While the drop off in inbound tourism is generally traceable 

to 9/11, the deterioration in policy goes much further back. 

Simply put, America will not reach the levels of tourism that it had prior to 9/ 

11 until it changes a set of policies that discourage not only leisure travel, but business travel and investment as well. Adding more visa windows in China will certainly help, but will not in and of itself create the attitude that once existed overseas that the United States is both the primary place to visit and to do business. 

There are several places to go to bring about these greater changes only some of 

which are in this Committee’s jurisdiction. 

The United States should start be renewing its commitment to the notion that 

travel and tourism is a key export market, and adopt policies that advance this concept. While there has been a great deal of debate recently over the role of exports 

in growing the U.S. economy, too many policymakers neglect to mention that in 

bound tourism should also be considered a vital U.S. export and promoted as such. 

The U.S. benefits both from exporting goods overseas and from increasing the number of foreign visitors to the U.S. Visitors to the U.S. on average spend $4,000 per 

trip—all of which contributes favorably to our international balance of payments. 

U.S. products and services are consumed, and in both cases, greater demand for 

American goods and services will lead to an expansion of the job market and economic growth. 

Few exports create jobs as effectively as travel and tourism. On a micro level, 

economists estimate that one new job is created in the United States for every thirty-six foreign visitors. In the aggregate, it is estimated that the restoration of America’s pre-2001 historic levels of inbound foreign travel would create an additional 1.3 

million U.S. jobs over a decade, and produce an additional $859 billion in new economic output. 

The impact of these statistics is clear; it is equally important to promote tourism 

as a means to grow the economy as it is to promote manufacturing. And, while there 

has been a great deal of debate over the deteriorating U.S. manufacturing infrastructure, there must also be a focus on the travel and tourism infrastructure. 

There is no question that travel facilities, including airports, overseas are in many 

instances far more modern and attractive than similar facilities in the U.S., and 

that foreign travel authorities have done a far better job in reducing travel wait 

times or in finding ways to make wait times more bearable. Stories about passengers being trapped on airplanes at U.S. airports for multiple hours, or about 

massive wait times and missed flights help to paint a negative picture of the U.S. 

to foreign visitors. 

The creation of Brand USA is certainly a symbol that this is not the image that 

the U.S. wishes to project overseas, and a commitment to remind the world of the 

many attractions that are worth seeing in the United States. Brand USA, Inc., however, has no power to put together the capital needed to improve the travel infrastructure of the United States. And, the focus on the debt crisis in the U.S. likely 

will mean that the Federal Government will have less, not more, to spend on the 

larger costs of improving our travel infrastructure. Any effort to truly rebuild America’s preeminent position as a travel destination must focus on the private sector, 

and yet current U.S. fiscal policies make it difficult to raise the private sector capital needed to encourage the investments that will once again make America’s travel 

facilities the best in the world. 

Current Federal tax policy, for example, has the unfortunate effect of discouraging 

investment in the U.S. by failing to keep up with developments in many foreign naVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:29 Mar 30, 2012 Jkt 073539 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 S:\GPO\DOCS\73539.TXT SCOM1 PsN: JACKIE
53 

tions, including all of our major trading partners, which facilitate capital formation. 

Earlier this year when Japan reduced its corporate tax rate, the U.S. became the 

OECD nation with the highest corporate tax rate (35 percent), and one of the few 

that continues to adhere to a policy of taxing U.S. companies on their worldwide 

incomes. Moreover, current U.S. tax policies encourage American companies to keep 

their foreign profits overseas, reducing the amount of capital available in the U.S. 

for investment and economic growth. Estimates suggest that U.S. companies are 

holding in excess of $1.5 trillion in foreign earnings overseas, and absent a change 

in tax policy, are likely to keep and invest these earnings overseas rather than in 

the US. Simply put, instead of investing these funds to build new travel facilities 

in the U.S., they are being used to expand the travel infrastructure in China, India, 

and Europe. 

Changes in tax policy that encourage investment in the United States are a good 

start, and should be considered in conjunction with a renewed focus on facilitating 

the easing of credit for the construction in the United States of new hotel and resort 

properties as well as the larger travel infrastructure. The United States went to 

great lengths to stabilize the financial services sector during the past three years, 

but so far, credit, including business credit, remains very tight. There are literally 

hundreds of shovel ready hotel projects throughout the United States simply waiting 

for credit to ease so that construction can start. 

It is very comforting to find that the Members of the Committee on Commerce 

understand and are passionate about the need to elevate travel and tourism as a 

key to economic growth and prosperity, and Starwood is grateful for their dedication 

to these issues. 

But given that some of the issues that have depressed the travel and tourism sector as well as foreign investment in the U.S. since well before 9/11 are in the jurisdiction of other committees, we urge the Commerce Committee Members to reach 

out to their colleagues on other committees, notably Finance, Banking, Homeland 

Security, and Appropriations, to let them know that travel and tourism is a key to 

restoring economic growth and prosperity in the U.S. and to ask that they be a part 

as well of what should be a national conversation and commitment to the travel sector. 

By bringing the level of passion and dedication to travel and tourism that has 

driven the Commerce Committee to those other Committees, there is a far greater 

likelihood that the tax, financial services, and trade issues that stand in the way 

of restoring American tourism will also be addressed, and in so doing, the U.S. could 

be well on its way to becoming once again the world’s primary destination for travel 

and investment. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION

The National Retail Federation (NRF) respectfully submits this statement for the 

record for the November 17, 2011 hearing entitled ‘‘Tourism in America: Moving 

Our Economy Forward.’’ NRF would like to thank Chairman Klobuchar, Ranking 

Member Blunt and the members of the Subcommittee for holding this important 

hearing. NRF fully believes that the quickest way to stimulate the U.S. economy 

is to improve the current visa process to allow more foreign travelers, especially 

those from growing economies, to gain access to the U.S. market. These improvements can be accomplished without any adverse impacts on U.S. security. 

Because of the burdensome U.S. visa policy, the travel sector, including the retail 

sector, is losing access to a broad array of consumers who can help improve economic performance in these key sectors. While the U.S. retail sector has performed 

better than the overall U.S. economy over the past year, growth in the retail sector 

could have been even stronger had more international travelers had the opportunity 

to visit the U.S. and U.S. retail stores. Accelerating the visa process to regain the 

pre-9/11 travel market share could bring in nearly 100 million more visitors a year, 

create more than one million new jobs and pump more than $800 billion into the 

U.S. economy. 

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, 

NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. 

jobs—42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the Nation’s economy. NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign emphasizes the economic importance of retail and encourages policymakers to 

support a Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value Agenda aimed at boosting economic 

growth and job creation. 

54 

1http://www.smartervisapolicy.org/site/documents/VisaReport.pdf. 2http://files.jobs-council.com/jobscouncil/files/2011/10/JobsCouncil_InterimReport_Oct11. 

pdf. 

Tourism and the Retail Sector 

With rapidly growing economies creating a new breed of affluent shoppers in 

countries such as Brazil, China and India, U.S. retailers have grown to highly value 

foreign tourists as shoppers in their stores. Unfortunately, tourists from these countries face lengthy delays in obtaining a U.S. visa because of security requirements 

implemented after 9/11. These delays have led these legitimate travelers to visit 

other countries instead of the U.S., resulting in a significant drop in the U.S. share 

of the international travel marketplace. 

There are several key barriers currently in place which are preventing increases 

in overseas travel to America. These include: (1) a highly inefficient and unpredictable visa application approval process; (2) a lack of personnel to process and interview visa applicants as well as a lack of access to a U.S. consular facility; and (3) 

poor planning and communication to applicants. The U.S. visa application process 

can take as long as 145 days in Brazil and 120 days in China, two of the fastestgrowing markets for outbound overseas travel. While the U.S. State Department has 

improved performance in these markets, we are concerned that these improvements 

may only be temporary. The State Department needs to dedicate resources to plan 

appropriately for future growth. 

The delays in the U.S. visa approval process inevitably encourage foreign tourists 

and consumers to go elsewhere. Last year alone, 38 percent of Chinese tourists went 

to Europe while only 13 percent came to the U.S. As a result, U.S. merchants are 

missing out on billions of dollars in potential sales. The U.S. Commerce Department 

estimates that that 88 percent of overseas visitors shop while traveling in the U.S., 

and goods made by well-known U.S. brands like Nike, Levis and Gap top their shopping lists. The most popular destinations for travel and shopping are ports-of-entry 

like New York and Los Angeles along with tourism centers like Las Vegas and Orlando. Many U.S. retailers cater to these foreign shoppers at their flagship stores 

in major tourist destinations, and retailers often have special programs geared towards international travelers which include providing multi-lingual sales associates 

in the stores to help with their shopping experience as well as offering special discount cards to these international shoppers. 

Recommendations 

Because of the importance of this issue to U.S. retailers, NRF has joined the Discover America Partnership. This Partnership unites a diverse group of stakeholders 

behind a set of recommendations contained in the ‘‘Ready for Takeoff ’’ 1 report 

issued by the U.S. Travel Association. The report outlines common-sense visa reforms that will be relatively easy to implement and which could create 1.3 million 

more U.S. jobs and add $859 billion to the U.S. economy by 2020. The report’s comprehensive, four-step plan will help the United States achieve its goal of becoming 

more competitive in the global travel market, which in turn will expand U.S. exports (purchases by tourists of products sold by retailers are considered ‘‘services exports’’), create new jobs and drive economic growth. 

The report recommends four solutions to improve U.S. visa policy. These include: 

• Align U.S. State Department resources with market demands; 

• Reduce visa interview wait times to 10 days or fewer; 

• Improve visa planning, measurement and transparency; and 

• Expand the Visa Waiver Program. 

In addition to this private sector report, the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness identified travel and tourism as a way to spur job growth. In the Council’s October Interim report titled ‘‘Taking Action, Building Confidence: Five Common Sense Initiatives to Boost Jobs and Competitiveness,’’ 2 the Council noted that 

they were focusing on two key areas to improve travel and tourism: promoting travel to the U.S. and accelerating visa processing. The report notes that the State Department has accelerated visa processing in China and Brazil, but they continue to 

work with the State Department to identify other opportunities to improve visa 

processing. 

Congressional Action 

In light of the recommendations from the Discover America Partnership and the 

focus by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, there have been several bills introduced in Congress to address the visa processing issues. NRF calls 

55 

upon Congress to act quickly upon this important legislation in order to provide a 

meaningful boost to the U.S. economy. 

We commend the leaders of the Subcommittee, Chairman Klobuchar and Ranking 

Member Blunt, for introducing the ‘‘International Tourism Facilitation Act’’ (S. 

1653). The bill would give the State Department incentives to improve the visa process and enable the Secretary of State to grant waivers in appropriate circumstances 

for additional years without requiring additional in-person interviews. We believe 

these important steps; along with other provisions within the bill will help the Department improve the visa process. 

In the House, Representative Joe Heck has introduced the ‘‘Welcoming Business 

Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011’’ (H.R. 3039), which would set a 

standard that requires the State Department to process visas within 12 days instead of their stated goal of 30 days. The bill would also implement a program that 

utilizes videoconferencing technology for conducting visa interviews to help alleviate 

the current backlog. 

Finally, NRF strongly supports language included in visa reform provisions included in the Fiscal Year 2012 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill (S. 1601) that would address visa reform. The 

provision directs the State Department to hire enough consular officers to meet 

their 30 day standard for processing visas; requires the agency to develop a plan 

to meet demand for nonimmigrant visas in Brazil, China and India over the next 

five years; and gives the agency discretion to establish a pilot program to use 

videoconferencing rather than requiring that visa interviews take place in person. 

NRF believes that these bills in combination with the current steps taken by the 

State Department will help remove the barriers currently in place that discourage 

international travelers from visiting the U.S. 

Conclusion 

We thank you for your attention to this important matter. NRF will continue to 

work with the State Department, business allies and supporters on Capitol Hill to 

ensure that more foreign visitors who are eager to visit America can safely enter 

the U.S. and enjoy all that we have to offer—creating jobs for Americans in the 

process. NRF supports strong national security measures and does not advocate 

lower standards for entry to improve the visa process. The State Department, however, needs to provide adequate personnel, technology and other resources so visa 

applications can be processed in a timely manner. If you have any questions or need 

additional information, please contact Jonathan Gold ( goldj@nrf.com), Vice President Supply Chain and Customs Policy for NRF. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TOUR OPERATOR ASSOCIATION

Mr. Chairman, Ms. Ranking Member, and members of the Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion, I am Terry Dale and I am proud 

to serve as President of the United States Tour Operator Association (USTOA). 

USTOA is a professional association representing the tour operator industry, which 

is composed of companies whose tours and packages encompass the entire globe. 

USTOA was founded in 1972 by a group of operators who recognized the need for 

a unified voice to protect the traveling public, as well as representing the interests 

of tour operators. In 1975, USTOA became a national organization with headquarters in New York. Members of USTOA number among the top names in travel 

and represent the entire spectrum of vacation packages and tours available today. 

USTOA companies move more than 11 million passengers and account for a sales 

volume of more than $9 billion annually. 

On behalf of USTOA, I am submitting this statement for the record regarding the 

travel industry’s impact on the U.S. economy. I want to start by thanking this Committee for their continued focus on tourism as a key economic driver. With the economy still struggling and unemployment remaining high, it is critical that the private 

sector, Congress, and the Federal Government work together to support travel and 

tourism and encourage increased foreign tourism to the United States. USTOA is 

available to assist in any way to advance tourism opportunities at home and abroad. 

First, let me begin by pointing out the significant impact travel and tourism has 

had on the American economy just this year. The Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITC) recently released some figures for this year 

worth highlighting. According to the ITC: 

• Annually, the travel and tourism sector supports 7.8 million American jobs and 

contributes $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy. 

56 

• Under the current 2011 projections, 64 million international travelers will have 

spent $152 billion during their stay in the United States. This is a 13% increase 

from 2010. 

• The U.S. is set to have a 2011 travel and tourism trade surplus of $41 billion. 

• International visits to the United States are expected to grow 5% annually 

throughout the next five years. 

As these figures point out, attracting and encouraging foreign visitation to the 

U.S. is critical to many of the businesses that USTOA members operate, and critical 

to the U.S. economy as a whole. Unfortunately, some impediments within the visa 

processing system exist that result in long wait times and thus discourage visitors 

from travelling to our great nation. Many of our members see the potential for additional business opportunities if our visa application process were made more efficient and the long wait times shortened. Although it is not before this Committee, 

the USTOA would like to go on record supporting S. 1653, the International Tourism Facilitation Act, in order to increase U.S. tourism by shortening the excessively 

long wait times foreign visitors face when applying for a U.S. tourist visa. We want 

to encourage increased travel to the U.S. in a way that creates a more user-friendly 

process for international visitors. Such actions will go a long way in improving the 

nation’s economy. 

Ensuring that visitors have a pleasant experience upon arrival in the U.S. is vital 

for maintaining and increasing foreign visits to the United States. It is essential 

that we have secure borders in a post-9/11 environment while simultaneously having security processes and programs that facilitate legitimate and efficient travel. 

The USTOA champions an open border policy and has worked with the U.S. State 

Department and other government entities to facilitate tourism worldwide. The 

USTOA will continue to be available as a resource to the State Department, the federal government and Congress as they work to identify various tools and programs 

to improve traveler satisfaction. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement for the 

record. The Committee’s consideration of USTOA’s views is greatly appreciated. The 

USTOA values the leadership and efforts of Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion in support of travel and tourism which is essential 

to the U.S. economy. We look forward to working with the Subcommittee on these 

important issues. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. TOM UDALL TO

JAMES P. EVANS

Question 1. I am pleased to hear about Brand USA’s marketing campaign and to 

see such a range of travel destinations represented on the Discover America website. 

I look forward to seeing the new advertisements this spring. Could you speak about 

Brand USA’s plans to promote travel in rural areas? 

Answer. We are currently in the process of meeting with Convention and Visitors 

Bureaus (CVBs) and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) from all across 

the country. In fact, on December 7–8, we are hosting a marketing outreach session 

to learn from state and city tourism directors. Among many others, marketing officers from states with many rural tourist destinations such as Michigan, Minnesota, 

and North Carolina are attending. Also, we have established Advisory Groups to assist our Marketing and Business Development teams develop ideas and strategies 

as we go forward. Members for these Advisory Groups will represent both urban and 

rural areas. 

We continue to develop our campaign creative and content for online initiatives. 

Our plan is to blanket the United States over time and provide in all markets interesting perspectives and information regarding iconic destinations, national parks, 

and areas not traditionally visited by international travelers. 

Question 2. How else can we help support and promote tourism in rural areas? 

Is marketing ‘‘adventure’’ tourism, such as ski and rafting packages, the best strategy or are there other promising ways to promote rural destinations? 

Answer. Our marketing strategy is built on capturing the United States under 

four marketing pillars: Urban Excitement, Culture, the Great Outdoors and Indulgence. Adventure tourism will be an important aspect of our Great Outdoors and 

Indulgence efforts. It is our intent to showcase rural outdoor spaces, national parks, 

and other active experiences available to international travelers. 

Question 3. I am pleased to hear that outdoor tourism is one of Brand USA’s campaign focuses. Outdoor recreation is especially important to my state, which is home 

to 17 units of the National Park Service, including parks, monuments, and historic 

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trails. These destinations attract tourists from around the world, contribute $3.8 billion annually to my state’s economy, and support 47,000 jobs. What is Brand USA 

doing to encourage outdoor tourism in the U.S.? How else might states and the Federal Government help support and promote outdoor tourism? 

Answer. With Great Outdoors as a major marketing strategic pillar we will certainly be promoting and providing information and booking opportunities for outdoor recreation. We have held discussions with Jonathan Jarvis, Director of the U.S. 

National Park Service; Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park 

Foundation; and Derrick Crandall, President and CEO of the American Recreation 

Coalition on the ways in which we can collaborate to promote outdoor tourism. We 

are looking at strategic partnerships and co-operative marketing efforts with these 

and other relevant organizations. In the coming months we will continue to meet 

with groups like these and with state tourism offices to flesh out projects of mutual 

interest. 

Question 4. New Mexico is home to unique Native American sites and traditions, 

such as Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Canyon, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and 

nineteen Pueblos. The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, which 

is based in Albuquerque, participated earlier this year in ITB Berlin, one of the 

world’s leading travel trade shows. The organization is also working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on tribal tourism initiatives. What could Congress and the 

Federal Government do to help support these efforts and other cultural tourism initiatives? 

Answer. It is Brand USA’s intention to exemplify all cultures of the country in 

its marketing and partnership efforts. In fact, one of our initial advertisement concepts showcases Native American culture. Brand USA would certainly welcome any 

advice in accessing significant Native American sites and populations for purposes 

of telling their story and enticing international travelers to visit and learn more. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. TOM UDALL TO

JOHN F. EDMAN

Question. New Mexico is home to unique Native American sites and traditions, 

such as Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Canyon, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and 

nineteen Pueblos. The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, which 

is based in Albuquerque, participated earlier this year in ITB Berlin, one of the 

world’s leading travel trade shows. The organization is also working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on tribal tourism initiatives. What could Congress and the 

Federal Government do to help support these efforts and other cultural tourism initiatives? 

Answer. My answer would be that those American Indian events and sites that 

wish to promote tourism should be an area of focus within the CTP international 

marketing efforts. From an overall Cultural Tourism Promotion standpoint, Congress should include in their funding mandates for all cultural programs that a part 

of their mission needs to be to connect their cultural assets to people and that marketing needs to be a function of their organization if they are to receive funding. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. TOM UDALL TO

JONATHAN ZUK

Question. New Mexico is home to unique Native American sites and traditions, 

such as Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Canyon, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and 

nineteen Pueblos. The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, which 

is based in Albuquerque, participated earlier this year in ITB Berlin, one of the 

world’s leading travel trade shows. The organization is also working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on tribal tourism initiatives. What could Congress and the 

Federal Government do to help support these efforts and other cultural tourism initiatives? 

Answer. Thank you for your question. We appreciate your interest at such a very 

important and fundamental time for the tourism industry. 

Within the broad picture, information about all of these sites and traditions 

should fall under the umbrella of ‘‘The Brand USA’’ and should be included in their 

promotions, specifically on their website ‘‘Discoveramerica.com’’. Although The 

Brand USA has not yet announced its intentions, or the structure for this website, 

the concept preferred by the Receptive Services industry (RSAA) is that as visitors 

tunnel down into the individual States, or groupings on the site, all of these wonderful destinations should appear and allow international travelers to obtain (initial) 

58 

information, which would encourage them to visit. We are optimistic that The Brand 

USA will concur with this vision and we will continue to monitor the development 

of their marketing campaigns and website. 

It is the belief of RSAA that the intention of the Travel Promotion Act is to promote the United States as a whole; not only its great cities and tourism icons, but 

also our less prominent destinations. We strongly affirm that our rural heritage is 

one of the keys to increased export tourism dollars. International visitors are mesmerized by the cultures of our native people, their history and their traditions. We 

will endeavor to help The Brand USA understand this and encourage Congress, the 

Federal Government and, in particular, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to suggest 

such organizations as the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association work 

jointly with RSAA to create programs that can excite our international visitors, and 

benefit our native economies. 

On a more specific basis, several of the destinations you mention are already 

working through the distribution channels of the international tourism industry and 

attract many international visitors. You will know that the more prominent places 

in New Mexico such as Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque have being doing so for 

many years and each in their turn has hosted gatherings of international tourism 

specialists, including members of our organization, the Receptive Services Association. These meetings always feature small, local tour companies who can take advantage of such exposure. 

As the key link between such destinations and the international tourism distribution system overseas, many receptive tour companies already have close working relationships with not only the Federal and State organizations, but also such individual tour companies and suppliers at the grass-roots level. Indeed, it is exactly 

these partners that we are continually seeking out, so that our international guests 

can visit and be informed by the very guardians of these traditions and cultures. 

Our greatest difficulty is in finding each other and then developing a working partnership that will meet the specific requirements of each. Sometimes this is easier 

said than done. Again, we encourage the Bureau of Indian Affairs to inform any interested parties to contact us at RSAA so that we may help them find a voice within 

The Brand USA and beyond. 

We applaud the effort by Congress in developing and ratifying the Travel Promotion Act. We encourage Congress and the Federal Government to be vigilant in 

ensuring that The Brand USA, through its marketing efforts, protects and supports 

the interests of the less publicized attractions and points of interest throughout our 

great country. We ask that you urge The Brand USA to work closely with RSAA 

and its members who have the unique knowledge and expertise to ensure the success of well-balanced promotional efforts. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTION SUBMITTED BY HON. TOM UDALL TO

JONATHAN TISCH

Question. New Mexico is home to unique Native American sites and traditions, 

such as Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Canyon, the Gila Cliff Dwellings, and 

nineteen Pueblos. The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, which 

is based in Albuquerque, participated earlier this year in ITB Berlin, one of the 

world’s leading travel trade shows. The organization is also working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on tribal tourism initiatives. What could Congress and the 

Federal Government do to help support these efforts and other cultural tourism initiatives? 

Answer. The United States is blessed with many world-class destinations, important historical sites, and vital cultural heritage attractions that both stimulate domestic tourism and encourage international travelers to come and visit. While it is 

true that many international tourists enter our country through major coastal or 

gateway cities, there are numerous draws within the Nation that lure them to all 

of our states. New Mexico and the surrounding regional Southwest is certainly no 

exception, and there is significant opportunity to attract tourists there from all over 

the world. 

To do so, however, both the state and the region need visitors to have a first class 

travel experience. That experience often begins well before visitors even step foot 

in our country—for many, it starts when visitors are applying for a visa to visit the 

U.S. Right now, that process is burdensome and bureaucratic. Congress should implement needed reforms so that the State Department can ensure that international 

travelers experience minimal delay and hassle when applying for a visa. 

Once here, international travelers must experience travel that is easy, efficient 

and enjoyable in order to keep them coming back. If a visitor is greeted by cancelled 

59 

flights, lengthy delays on an airport tarmac, airports that are antiquated and unable to accommodate today’s modern security equipment—odds are they will be reluctant to travel from gateway cities into the country, let alone book a return trip. 

But if travelers can move easily from Los Angeles to Albuquerque they will be more 

likely to venture on to Chaco Canyon or the Gila Cliff Dwellings. 

To make this a reality, Congress and the Federal Government need to prioritize 

upgrades to our Nation’s travel infrastructure—particularly our aviation infrastructure—to help domestic and international tourists have an enjoyable experience traveling to and around the American Southwest. Modernizing our air traffic control 

system, expanding our runway capacity, bringing our airports and terminals up-todate—all will contribute to improving the travel experience and bring more international and domestic visitors to New Mexico. 

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