II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1023 

To establish a non-profit corporation to communicate United States entry 

policies and otherwise promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel 

to the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2009 

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BEGICH, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. BENNET, Mr. UDALL of 

New Mexico, Mr VITTER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a non-profit corporation to communicate United 

States entry policies and otherwise promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Travel Promotion Act of 2009’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. The Corporation for Travel Promotion. 

Sec. 3. Accountability measures. 

Sec. 4. Matching public and private funding. 

Sec. 5. Travel promotion fund fees. 

Sec. 6. Assessment authority. 

Sec. 7. Office of Travel Promotion. 

Sec. 8. Research program. 

1 SEC. 2. THE CORPORATION FOR TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Corporation for Travel 

3 Promotion is established as a nonprofit corporation. The 

4 Corporation shall not be an agency or establishment of 

5 the United States Government. The Corporation shall be 

6 subject to the provisions of the District of Columbia Non7 profit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 29–1001 et 

8 seq.), to the extent that such provisions are consistent 

9 with this section, and shall have the powers conferred 

10 upon a nonprofit corporation by that Act to carry out its 

11 purposes and activities. 

12 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall have 

14 a board of directors of 11 members with knowledge 

15 of international travel promotion and marketing, 

16 broadly representing various regions of the United 

17 States, who are United States citizens. Members of 

18 the board shall be appointed by the Secretary of 

19 Commerce (after consultation with the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security and the Secretary of State), as 

21 follows: 


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1 (A) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

2 experience in the hotel accommodations sector; 

3 (B) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

4 experience in the restaurant sector; 

5 (C) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

6 experience in the small business or retail sector 

7 or in associations representing that sector; 

8 (D) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

9 experience in the advertising sector; 

10 (E) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

11 experience in the attractions or recreations sec12 tor; 

13 (F) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

14 experience as officials of a city convention and 

15 visitors’ bureau; 

16 (G) 2 shall have appropriate expertise and 

17 experience as officials of a State tourism office; 

18 (H) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

19 experience in the passenger air sector; 

20 (I) 1 shall have appropriate expertise and 

21 experience in immigration law and policy, in22 cluding visa requirements and United States 

23 entry procedures; and 

24 (J) 1 shall have appropriate expertise in 

25 the intercity passenger railroad business. 


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1 (2) INCORPORATION.—The members of the ini2 tial board of directors shall serve as incorporators 

3 and shall take whatever actions are necessary to es4 tablish the Corporation under the District of Colum5 bia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, section 

6 29–1001 et seq.). 

7 (3) TERM OF OFFICE.—The term of office of 

8 each member of the board appointed by the Sec9 retary shall be 3 years, except that, of the members 

10 first appointed— 

11 (A) 3 shall be appointed for terms of 1 

12 year; 

13 (B) 4 shall be appointed for terms of 2 

14 years; and 

15 (C) 4 shall be appointed for terms of 3 

16 years. 

17 (4) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The Secretary of 

18 Commerce may remove any member of the board for 

19 good cause. 

20 (5) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the board 

21 shall not affect its power, but shall be filled in the 

22 manner required by this section. Any member whose 

23 term has expired may serve until the member’s suc24 cessor has taken office, or until the end of the cal25 endar year in which the member’s term has expired, 


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1 whichever is earlier. Any member appointed to fill a 

2 vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term 

3 for which that member’s predecessor was appointed 

4 shall be appointed for the remainder of the prede5 cessor’s term. No member of the board shall be eligi6 ble to serve more than 2 consecutive full 3-year 

7 terms. 

8 (6) ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIR9 MAN.—Members of the board shall annually elect 

10 one of the members to be Chairman and elect 1 or 

11 2 of the members as Vice Chairman or Vice Chair12 men. 

13 (7) STATUS AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Not14 withstanding any provision of law to the contrary, 

15 no member of the board may be considered to be a 

16 Federal employee of the United States by virtue of 

17 his or her service as a member of the board. 

18 (8) COMPENSATION; EXPENSES.—No member 

19 shall receive any compensation from the Federal 

20 government for serving on the Board. Each member 

21 of the Board shall be paid actual travel expenses and 

22 per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses when away 

23 from his or her usual place of residence, in accord24 ance with section 5703 of title 5, United States 

25 Code. 


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1 (c) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall have 

3 a President, and such other officers as may be 

4 named and appointed by the board for terms and at 

5 rates of compensation fixed by the board. No indi6 vidual other than a citizen of the United States may 

7 be an officer of the Corporation. The Corporation 

8 may hire and fix the compensation of such employ9 ees as may be necessary to carry out its purposes. 

10 No officer or employee of the Corporation may re11 ceive any salary or other compensation (except for 

12 compensation for services on boards of directors of 

13 other organizations that do not receive funds from 

14 the Corporation, on committees of such boards, and 

15 in similar activities for such organizations) from any 

16 sources other than the Corporation for services ren17 dered during the period of his or her employment by 

18 the Corporation. Service by any officer on boards of 

19 directors of other organizations, on committees of 

20 such boards, and in similar activities for such orga21 nizations shall be subject to annual advance ap22 proval by the board and subject to the provisions of 

23 the Corporation’s Statement of Ethical Conduct. All 

24 officers and employees shall serve at the pleasure of 

25 the board. 


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1 (2) NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF APPOINT2 MENT.—No political test or qualification shall be 

3 used in selecting, appointing, promoting, or taking 

4 other personnel actions with respect to officers, 

5 agents, or employees of the Corporation. 

6 (d) NONPROFIT AND NONPOLITICAL NATURE OF

7 CORPORATION.— 

8 (1) STOCK.—The Corporation shall have no 

9 power to issue any shares of stock, or to declare or 

10 pay any dividends. 

11 (2) PROFIT.—No part of the income or assets 

12 of the Corporation shall inure to the benefit of any 

13 director, officer, employee, or any other individual 

14 except as salary or reasonable compensation for 

15 services. 

16 (3) POLITICS.—The Corporation may not con17 tribute to or otherwise support any political party or 

18 candidate for elective public office. 

19 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LOBBYING

20 ACTIVITIES.—It is the sense of Congress that the 

21 Corporation should not engage in lobbying activities 

22 (as defined in section 3(7) of the Lobbying Disclo23 sure Act of 1995 (5 U.S.C. 1602(7)). 

24 (e) DUTIES AND POWERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall de2 velop and execute a plan— 

3 (A) to provide useful information to for4 eign tourists, business people, students, schol5 ars, scientists, and others interested in travel6 ling to the United States, including the dis7 tribution of material provided by the Federal 

8 government concerning entry requirements, re9 quired documentation, fees, processes, and in10 formation concerning declared public health 

11 emergencies, to prospective travelers, travel 

12 agents, tour operators, meeting planners, for13 eign governments, travel media and other inter14 national stakeholders; 

15 (B) to identify, counter, and correct 

16 misperceptions regarding United States entry 

17 policies around the world; 

18 (C) to maximize the economic and diplo19 matic benefits of travel to the United States by 

20 promoting the United States of America to 

21 world travelers through the use of, but not lim22 ited to, all forms of advertising, outreach to 

23 trade shows, and other appropriate promotional 

24 activities; 


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1 (D) to ensure that international travel ben2 efits all States and the District of Columbia 

3 and to identify opportunities and strategies to 

4 promote tourism to rural and urban areas 

5 equally, including areas not traditionally visited 

6 by international travelers; and 

7 (E) to give priority to the Corporation’s ef8 forts with respect to countries and populations 

9 most likely to travel to the United States. 

10 (2) SPECIFIC POWERS.—In order to carry out 

11 the purposes of this section, the Corporation may— 

12 (A) obtain grants from and make contracts 

13 with individuals and private companies, State, 

14 and Federal agencies, organizations, and insti15 tutions; 

16 (B) hire or accept the voluntary services of 

17 consultants, experts, advisory boards, and pan18 els to aid the Corporation in carrying out its 

19 purposes; and 

20 (C) take such other actions as may be nec21 essary to accomplish the purposes set forth in 

22 this section. 

23 (3) PUBLIC OUTREACH AND INFORMATION.— 

24 The Corporation shall develop and maintain a pub25 licly accessible website. 


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1 (f) OPEN MEETINGS.—Meetings of the board of di2 rectors of the Corporation, including any committee of the 

3 board, shall be open to the public. The board may, by ma4 jority vote, close any such meeting only for the time nec5 essary to preserve the confidentiality of commercial or fi6 nancial information that is privileged or confidential, to 

7 discuss personnel matters, or to discuss legal matters af8 fecting the Corporation, including pending or potential liti9 gation. 

10 (g) MAJOR CAMPAIGNS.—The board may not author11 ize the Corporation to obligate or expend more than 

12 $25,000,000 on any advertising campaign, promotion, or 

13 related effort unless— 

14 (1) the obligation or expenditure is approved by 

an affirmative vote of at least 2 15 ⁄3 of the members of 

16 the board present at the meeting; 

17 (2) at least 6 members of the board are present 

18 at the meeting at which it is approved; and 

19 (3) each member of the board has been given 

20 at least 3 days advance notice of the meeting at 

21 which the vote is to be taken and the matters to be 

22 voted upon at that meeting. 

23 (h) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY. 


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1 (1) FISCAL YEAR.—The Corporation shall es2 tablish as its fiscal year the 12-month period begin3 ning on October 1. 

4 (2) BUDGET.—The Corporation shall adopt a 

5 budget for each fiscal year. 

6 (3) ANNUAL AUDITS.—The Corporation shall 

7 engage an independent accounting firm to conduct 

8 an annual financial audit of the Corporation’s oper9 ations and shall publish the results of the audit. The 

10 Comptroller General of the United States may re11 view any audit of a financial statement conducted 

12 under this subsection by an independent accounting 

13 firm and may audit the Corporation’s operations at 

14 the discretion of the Comptroller General. The 

15 Comptroller General shall have full and complete ac16 cess to the books and records of the Corporation. 

17 (4) PROGRAM AUDITS.—Not later than 2 years 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp19 troller General shall conduct a review of the pro20 grammatic activities of the Corporation for Travel 

21 Promotion. This report shall be provided to appro22 priate congressional committees. 

23 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES. 

24 (a) OBJECTIVES.—The Board shall establish annual 

25 objectives for the Corporation for each fiscal year subject 


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1 to approval by the Secretary of Commerce (after consulta2 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Sec3 retary of State). The Corporation shall establish a mar4 keting plan for each fiscal year not less than 60 days be5 fore the beginning of that year and provide a copy of the 

6 plan, and any revisions thereof, to the Secretary. 

7 (b) BUDGET.—The board shall transmit a copy of the 

8 Corporation’s budget for the forthcoming fiscal year to the 

9 Secretary not less than 60 days before the beginning of 

10 each fiscal year, together with an explanation of any ex11 penditure provided for by the budget in excess of 

12 $5,000,000 for the fiscal year. The Corporation shall 

13 make a copy of the budget and the explanation available 

14 to the public and shall provide public access to the budget 

15 and explanation on the Corporation’s website. 

16 (c) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Corpora17 tion shall submit an annual report for the preceding fiscal 

18 year to the Secretary of Commerce for transmittal to the 

19 Congress on or before the 15th day of May of each year. 

20 The report shall include— 

21 (1) a comprehensive and detailed report of the 

22 Corporation’s operations, activities, financial condi23 tion, and accomplishments under this Act; 


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1 (2) a comprehensive and detailed inventory of 

2 amounts obligated or expended by the Corporation 

3 during the preceding fiscal year; 

4 (3) a detailed description of each in-kind con5 tribution, its fair market value, the individual or or6 ganization responsible for contributing, its specific 

7 use, and a justification for its use within the context 

8 of the Corporation’s mission; 

9 (4) an objective and quantifiable measurement 

10 of its progress, on an objective-by-objective basis, in 

11 meeting the objectives established by the board; 

12 (5) an explanation of the reason for any failure 

13 to achieve an objective established by the board and 

14 any revisions or alterations to the Corporation’s ob15 jectives under subsection (a); 

16 (6) a comprehensive and detailed report of the 

17 Corporation’s operations and activities to promote 

18 tourism in rural and urban areas; and 

19 (7) such recommendations as the Corporation 

20 deems appropriate. 

21 SEC. 4. MATCHING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FUNDING. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRAVEL PROMOTION

23 FUND.—There is hereby established in the Treasury a 

24 fund which shall be known as the Travel Promotion Fund. 

25 (b) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) START-UP EXPENSES.—For the period be2 ginning on October 1, 2009, and ending on Decem3 ber 31, 2009, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

4 make available to the Corporation such sums as may 

5 be necessary, but not to exceed $10,000,000, from 

6 amounts deposited in the general fund of the Treas7 ury from fees under section 217(h)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the 

8 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1187(h)(3)(B)(i)(I)) to cover the Corporation’s ini10 tial expenses and activities under this Act. 

11 (2) FISCAL YEAR 2010 AND SUBSEQUENT

12 YEARS.—For the period beginning on January 1, 

13 2010, and ending on September 30, 2010, and for 

14 each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014, from 

15 amounts deposited in the general fund of the Treas16 ury during the preceding fiscal year from fees under 

17 section 217(h)(3)(B)(i)(I) of the Immigration and 

18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(B)(i)(I)), the 

19 Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer not more 

20 than $100,000,000 to the Fund, which shall be 

21 made available to the Corporation, subject to sub22 sections (c) and (d) of this section, to carry out its 

23 functions under this Act. Transfers shall be made at 

24 least quarterly on the basis of estimates by the Sec25 retary of the Treasury of the amounts required to be 


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1 transferred in accordance with subsection (c), and 

2 proper adjustments shall be made in amounts subse3 quently transferred to the extent prior estimates 

4 were in excess or less than the amounts required to 

5 be transferred. 

6 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas8 ury shall make available to the Corporation at least 

9 quarterly from amounts available in the Fund for 

10 the period beginning on January 1, 2010, and end11 ing on September 30, 2010, and for each of fiscal 

12 years 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, an amount equal 

13 to the amount received from non-Federal sources by 

14 the Corporation. The amount made available to the 

15 Corporation under this paragraph for the period 

16 ending on September 30, 2010, and for each of 

17 those fiscal years, may not exceed $100,000,000. 

18 (2) GOODS AND SERVICES.—For the purpose of 

19 determining the amount received from non-Federal 

20 sources by the Corporation, other than money— 

21 (A) the fair market value of goods and 

22 services (including advertising) contributed to 

23 the Corporation for use under this Act may be 

24 included in the determination; but 


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1 (B) the fair market value of such goods 

2 and services may not account for more than 80 

3 percent of the matching requirement under 

4 paragraph (1) for the Corporation in any fiscal 

5 year. 

6 (3) RIGHT OF REFUSAL.—The Corporation may 

7 decline to accept any contribution in-kind that it de8 termines to be inappropriate, not useful, or commer9 cially worthless. 

10 (4) LIMITATION.—The Corporation may not ob11 ligate or expend funds in excess of the total amount 

12 received by the Corporation for a fiscal year from 

13 Federal and non-Federal sources. 

14 (d) CARRYFORWARD.— 

15 (1) FEDERAL FUNDS.—Amounts transferred to 

16 the Fund under subsection (b)(2) shall remain avail17 able until expended. 

18 (2) MATCHING FUNDS.—Any amount received 

19 by the Corporation from non-Federal sources in fis20 cal year 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2014 that can21 not be used to meet the matching requirement under 

22 subsection (c)(1) for the fiscal year in which amount 

23 was collected may be carried forward and treated as 

24 having been received in the succeeding fiscal year for 


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1 purposes of meeting the matching requirement of 

2 subsection (c)(1) in such succeeding fiscal year. 

3 SEC. 5. TRAVEL PROMOTION FUND FEES. 

4 Section 217(h)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nation5 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(B)) is amended to read as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(B) FEES.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No later than September 

9 30, 2009, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

10 establish a fee for the use of the System and begin 

11 assessment and collection of that fee. The initial fee 

12 shall be the sum of— 

13 ‘‘(I) $10 per travel authorization; and 

14 ‘‘(II) an amount that will at least ensure 

15 recovery of the full costs of providing and ad16 ministering the System, as determined by the 

17 Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(ii) DISPOSITION OF AMOUNTS COLLECTED.— 

19 Amounts collected under clause (i)(I) shall be cred20 ited to the Travel Promotion Fund established by 

21 section 4 of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. 

22 Amounts collected under clause (i)(II) shall be 

23 transferred to the general fund of the Treasury and 

24 made available to pay the costs incurred to admin25 ister the System. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) SUNSET OF TRAVEL PROMOTION FUND

2 FEE.—The Secretary may not collect the fee author3 ized by clause (i)(I) for fiscal years beginning after 

4 September 30, 2014.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

7 this section, the Corporation may impose an annual as8 sessment on United States members of the international 

9 travel and tourism industry (other than those described 

10 in section 2(b)(1)(C) or (H)) represented on the Board 

11 in proportion to their share of the aggregate international 

12 travel and tourism revenue of the industry. The Corpora13 tion shall be responsible for verifying, implementing, and 

14 collecting the assessment authorized by this section. 

15 (b) INITIAL ASSESSMENT LIMITED.—The Corpora16 tion may establish the initial assessment after the date 

17 of enactment of the Travel and Tourism Promotion Act 

18 at no greater, in the aggregate, than $20,000,000. 

19 (c) REFERENDA.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation may not 

21 impose an annual assessment unless— 

22 (A) the Corporation submits the proposed 

23 annual assessment to members of the industry 

24 in a referendum; and 


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1 (B) the assessment is approved by a ma2 jority of those voting in the referendum. 

3 (3) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—In con4 ducting a referendum under this subsection, the Cor5 poration shall— 

6 (A) provide written or electronic notice not 

7 less than 60 days before the date of the ref8 erendum; 

9 (B) describe the proposed assessment or 

10 increase and explain the reasons for the ref11 erendum in the notice; and 

12 (C) determine the results of the ref13 erendum on the basis of weighted voting appor14 tioned according to each business entity’s rel15 ative share of the aggregate annual United 

16 States international travel and tourism revenue 

17 for the industry per business entity, treating all 

18 related entities as a single entity. 

19 (d) COLLECTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall estab21 lish a means of collecting the assessment that it 

22 finds to be efficient and effective. The Corporation 

23 may establish a late payment charge and rate of in24 terest to be imposed on any person who fails to 


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1 remit or pay to the Corporation any amount as2 sessed by the Corporation under this Act. 

3 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—The Corporation may 

4 bring suit in Federal court to compel compliance 

5 with an assessment levied by the Corporation under 

6 this Act. 

7 (e) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—Pending disbursement 

8 pursuant to a program, plan, or project, the Corporation 

9 may invest funds collected through assessments, and any 

10 other funds received by the Corporation, only in obliga11 tions of the United States or any agency thereof, in gen12 eral obligations of any State or any political subdivision 

13 thereof, in any interest-bearing account or certificate of 

14 deposit of a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve 

15 System, or in obligations fully guaranteed as to principal 

16 and interest by the United States. 

17 SEC. 7. OFFICE OF TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

18 Title II of the International Travel Act of 1961 (22 

19 U.S.C. 2121 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

20 201 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 202. OFFICE OF TRAVEL PROMOTION. 

22 ‘‘(a) OFFICE ESTABLISHED.—There is established 

23 within the Department of Commerce an office to be known 

24 as the Office of Travel Promotion. 

25 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Office shall be head2 ed by a Director who shall be appointed by the Sec3 retary. 

4 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be a 

5 citizen of the United States and have experience in 

6 a field directly related to the promotion of travel to 

7 and within the United States. 

8 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Director shall be respon9 sible for ensuring the office is carrying out its func10 tions effectively and shall report to the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Office shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) serve as liaison to the Corporation for 

13 Travel Promotion established by section 2 of the 

14 Travel Promotion Act of 2009 and support and en15 courage the development of programs to increase the 

16 number of international visitors to the United States 

17 for business, leisure, educational, medical, exchange, 

18 and other purposes; 

19 ‘‘(2) work with the Corporation, the Secretary 

20 of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security— 

21 ‘‘(A) to disseminate information more ef22 fectively to potential international visitors about 

23 documentation and procedures required for ad24 mission to the United States as a visitor; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to ensure that arriving international 

2 visitors are generally welcomed with accurate 

3 information and in an inviting manner; 

4 ‘‘(C) to collect accurate data on the total 

5 number of international visitors that visit each 

6 State; and 

7 ‘‘(D) enhance the entry and departure ex8 perience for international visitors through the 

9 use of advertising, signage, and customer serv10 ice; and 

11 ‘‘(3) support State, regional, and private sector 

12 initiatives to promote travel to and within the 

13 United States. 

14 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Within a year after 

15 the date of enactment of the Travel Promotion Act of 

16 2009, and periodically thereafter as appropriate, the Sec17 retary shall transmit a report to the Senate Committee 

18 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Senate 

19 Committee on Homeland Security and Government Af20 fairs, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

21 House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Com22 merce, the House of Representatives Committee on Home23 land Security, and the House of Representatives Com24 mittee on Foreign Affairs describing the Office’s work 

25 with the Corporation, the Secretary of State and the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:28 May 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1023.IS S1023

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1 retary of Homeland Security to carry out subsection 

2 (c)(2).’’. 

3 SEC. 8. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

4 Title II of the International Travel Act of 1961 (22 

5 U.S.C. 2121 et seq.), as amended by section 7, is further 

6 amended by inserting after section 202 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 203. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Travel and Tour9 ism Industries shall expand and continue its research and 

10 development activities in connection with the promotion of 

11 international travel to the United States, including— 

12 ‘‘(1) expanding access to the official Mexican 

13 travel surveys data to provide the States with trav14 eler characteristics and visitation estimates for tar15 geted marketing programs; 

16 ‘‘(2) expanding the number of inbound air trav17 elers sampled by the Commerce Department’s Sur18 vey of International Travelers to reach a 1 percent 

19 sample size and revising the design and format of 

20 questionnaires to accommodate a new survey instru21 ment, improve response rates to at least double the 

22 number of States and cities with reliable inter23 national visitor estimates and improve market cov24 erage; 


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1 ‘‘(3) developing estimates of international travel 

2 exports (expenditures) on a State-by-State basis to 

3 enable each State to compare its comparative posi4 tion to national totals and other States; 

5 ‘‘(4) evaluate the success of the Corporation in 

6 achieving its objectives and carrying out the pur7 poses of the Travel Promotion Act of 2009; and 

8 ‘‘(5) research to support the annual reports re9 quired by section 202(d) of this Act. 

10 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com12 merce for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 such sums as 

13 may be necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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