IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 951 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To promote bilateral tourism through cooperation between 

the United States and Mexico. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Mexico 

3 Tourism Improvement Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The United States and Mexico have bene7 fitted economically from a bilateral, mutually bene8 ficial partnership focused on enhancing the tourism 

9 industry in both countries. 

10 (2) In 2016, Mexican tourism to the United 

11 States peaked at 18,990,585 visitors, constituting 1 

12 in 4 (24.9 percent) of all tourists that year. 

13 (3) Additionally, in 2016, spending by Mexican 

14 tourists in the United States totaled $20.3 billion, 

15 which represented a 3 percent growth from 2015. 

16 (4) Tourist activity to the United States from 

17 Mexico has declined since 2016, which is in contrast 

18 to an overall international tourism industry increase 

19 in the United States. 

20 (5) In 2017, international tourist arrivals to21 taled 76,900,000, up 0.7 percent from 76,400,000 in 

22 2016. 

23 (6) The same year, 77,000,000 international 

24 visitors spent a record $251.4 billion on hotels, trav25 el, food, and souvenirs, a 2-percent increase over 

26 2016. 


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1 (7) However, also in 2017, there was a 6.1-per2 cent decline in visitors to the United States from 

3 Mexico, comprising a loss of 1,166,585 Mexican 

4 tourists from 2016. 

5 (8) The Department of Commerce has not yet 

6 released 2017 spending totals by Mexican tourists in 

7 the United States, but a corresponding monetary de8 cline would be approximately $1.24 billion in lost 

9 revenue. 

10 (9) This is a critical economic trend given that 

11 Mexico is the biggest source of international visitors 

12 to the United States after Canada. 

13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States— 

15 (1) to continue deepening bilateral tourism 

16 through governmental cooperation between the 

17 United States and Mexico; 

18 (2) to improve third-party tourism to the 

19 United States and Mexico through joint inter20 national promotional efforts; and 

21 (3) to seek to prioritize and expand the tourism 

22 industries in both countries by emphasizing ex23 changes in various international economic sectors, 

24 including relating to— 

25 (A) hospitality and accommodation; 


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1 (B) retail; and 

2 (C) cultural education. 

3 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO EXPAND BILATERAL TOURISM 

4 THROUGH COOPERATION WITH MEXICO. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de6 velop a strategy through the High Level Economic Dia7 logue (HLED) platform to carry out the bilateral tourism 

8 policy described in section 3 and to encourage the Govern9 ment of Mexico to take reciprocal action relating to bilat10 eral tourism. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub12 section (a) shall— 

13 (1) encourage more joint tourism initiatives be14 tween the United States and Mexico, including col15 laborations between governmental and non-govern16 mental entities; and 

17 (2) encourage United States and Mexican non18 profit institutions and private businesses to assist 

19 prospective and developing entrepreneurs in 

20 strengthening their business skills in the United 

21 States and Mexico. 

22 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 


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1 submit to Congress a report on the strategy required 

2 under subsection (a). 

Passed the House of Representatives June 10, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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