II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6965 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 11, 2022 

Received 

AN ACT 

To promote travel and tourism in the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Visit America Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

4 Section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 

5 3 of 1979 (93 Stat. 1382; 5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘There shall be in the Depart7 ment two additional Assistant Secretaries’’ and in8 serting ‘‘(1) There shall be in the Department 3 ad9 ditional Assistant Secretaries, including the Assist10 ant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tour11 ism,’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel 

14 and Tourism shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the President, subject to 

16 the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

17 ‘‘(B) report directly to the Under Secretary for 

18 International Trade.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY 

20 OF COMMERCE FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

21 (a) VISITATION GOALS.—The Assistant Secretary of 

22 Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this sec23 tion as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’), appointed pursuant to 

24 section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 

25 1979, as amended by section 2, shall— 


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1 (1) in consultation with relevant Federal agen2 cies, establish an annual visitation goal, consistent 

3 with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy de4 veloped pursuant to section 4(1), for— 

5 (A) the number of international visitors to 

6 the United States; and 

7 (B) the value of travel and tourism com8 merce; 

9 (2) develop recommendations for achieving the 

10 annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); 

11 (3) ensure that travel and tourism policy is de12 veloped in consultation with— 

13 (A) the Tourism Policy Council; 

14 (B) the Secretary of State; 

15 (C) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

16 (D) the National Travel and Tourism Of17 fice; 

18 (E) Brand USA; 

19 (F) the United States Travel and Tourism 

20 Advisory Board; and 

21 (G) travel industry partners, including 

22 public and private destination marketing orga23 nizations, travel and tourism suppliers, and 

24 labor representatives from these industries; 


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1 (4) establish short-, medium-, and long-term 

2 timelines for implementing the recommendations de3 veloped pursuant to paragraph (2); 

4 (5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments, 

5 in consultation with the Office of Management and 

6 Budget and other relevant Federal agencies, to iden7 tify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, 

8 and private sector engagement needed to achieve the 

9 annual visitation goals; and 

10 (6) provide assessments and recommendations 

11 to— 

12 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

13 and Transportation of the Senate; 

14 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com15 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

16 (C) the public through a publicly accessible 

17 website. 

18 (b) DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM.—The Assist19 ant Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall— 

20 (1) evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic pol21 icy options for supporting competitiveness with re22 spect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of 

23 the domestic travel industry; 


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1 (2) develop recommendations and goals to sup2 port and enhance domestic tourism, separated by 

3 business and leisure; and 

4 (3) engage public and private stakeholders to 

5 support domestic tourism. 

6 (c) WORKFORCE.—The Assistant Secretary shall— 

7 (1) consult with the Secretary of Labor to de8 velop strategies and best practices for improving the 

9 timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism work10 force data; 

11 (2) work with the Secretary of Labor and the 

12 Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and 

13 tourism industry data; and 

14 (3) provide recommendations for policy en15 hancements and efficiencies. 

16 (d) INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRAVEL FACILITA17 TION.—The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with rel18 evant Federal agencies, shall work to increase and facili19 tate international business travel to the United States and 

20 ensure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum— 

21 (1) facilitating large meetings, incentives, con22 ferences, and exhibitions to be hosted in the United 

23 States; 

24 (2) emphasizing rural and other destinations 

25 rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, 


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1 among other uniquely American destinations, as lo2 cations for hosting international meetings, incen3 tives, conferences, and exhibitions in the United 

4 States; and 

5 (3) facilitating sports and recreation events and 

6 activities, which shall be hosted in the United 

7 States. 

8 (e) RECOVERY STRATEGY.— 

9 (1) INITIAL RECOVERY STRATEGY.—Not later 

10 than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to ac11 complish the purposes of this section, the Assistant 

12 Secretary, in consultation with public and private 

13 stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and pub14 lic health officials, shall develop and implement a 

15 COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strat16 egy to assist the United States travel and tourism 

17 industry to quickly recover from the pandemic. 

18 (2) FUTURE RECOVERY STRATEGIES.—After 

19 assisting in the implementation of the strategy de20 veloped pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant 

21 Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public 

22 and private stakeholders, shall develop additional re23 covery strategies for the travel and tourism industry 

24 in anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic 

25 events that would significantly affect the travel and 


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1 tourism industry, such as hurricanes, floods, 

2 tsunamis, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, and 

3 pandemics. 

4 (3) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.—In developing 

5 the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery 

6 strategy under paragraph (1) and additional recov7 ery strategies for the travel and tourism industry 

8 under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall 

9 conduct cost-benefit analyses that take into account 

10 the health and economic effects of public health 

11 mitigation measures on the travel and tourism in12 dustry. 

13 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The Assistant 

15 Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report 

16 on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent 

17 feasible, which shall include current and antici18 pated— 

19 (A) domestic employment needs; 

20 (B) international inbound volume and 

21 spending, taking into account the lasting effects 

22 of the COVID–19 public health emergency and 

23 the impact of the recovery strategy implemented 

24 pursuant to subsection (e)(1); and 


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1 (C) domestic volume and spending, includ2 ing Federal and State public land travel and 

3 tourism data. 

4 (2) BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.—The Di5 rector of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should 

6 annually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel 

7 and Tourism Satellite Accounts, including— 

8 (A) State level travel and tourism spending 

9 data; 

10 (B) travel and tourism workforce data for 

11 full-time and part-time employment; and 

12 (C) Federal and State public lands outdoor 

13 recreational activity and tourism spending data. 

14 (3) NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM OF15 FICE.—The Director of the National Travel and 

16 Tourism Office— 

17 (A) in partnership with the Bureau of Eco18 nomic Analysis and other relevant Federal 

19 agencies, shall report international arrival and 

20 spending data on a regular monthly schedule, 

21 which shall be made available to the Travel and 

22 Tourism Advisory Board and to the public 

23 through a publicly available website; and 

24 (B) shall include questions in the Survey 

25 of International Air Travelers regarding waitVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:19 Jan 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6965.RDS H6965

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1 times, visits to public lands, and State data, to 

2 the extent applicable. 

3 SEC. 4. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY. 

4 Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Sec5 retary of Commerce, in consultation with the United 

6 States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, the Tourism 

7 Policy Council, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary 

8 of Homeland Security, shall develop and submit to Con9 gress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall 

10 include— 

11 (1) the establishment of goals with respect to 

12 the number of annual international visitors to the 

13 United States and the annual value of travel and 

14 tourism commerce in the United States during such 

15 10-year period; 

16 (2) the resources needed to achieve the goals es17 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

18 (3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory 

19 changes that would be necessary to achieve such 

20 goals. 

21 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 

22 BOARD. 

23 Section 3 of the Act of July 19, 1940, entitled ‘‘An 

24 Act to encourage travel in the United States, and for other 

25 purposes’’ (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 3’’ and all that follows 

2 through ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior is author3 ized’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 3. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY 

5 BOARD; ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

6 ‘‘(a) UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVI7 SORY BOARD.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

9 United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board 

10 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Board’), the 

11 members of which shall be appointed by the Sec12 retary of Commerce for 2-year terms from among 

13 companies and organizations in the travel and tour14 ism industry. 

15 ‘‘(2) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Assistant 

16 Secretary for Travel and Tourism shall serve as the 

17 Executive Director of the Board. 

18 ‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT.—The Director 

19 of the National Travel and Tourism Office of the 

20 International Trade Administration shall serve as 

21 the Executive Secretariat for the Board. 

22 ‘‘(4) FUNCTIONS.—The Board’s Charter shall 

23 specify that the Board will— 

24 ‘‘(A) serve as the advisory body to the Sec25 retary of Commerce on matters relating to the 


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1 travel and tourism industry in the United 

2 States; 

3 ‘‘(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on 

4 Government policies and programs that affect 

5 the United States travel and tourism industry; 

6 ‘‘(C) offer counsel on current and emerg7 ing issues; 

8 ‘‘(D) provide a forum for discussing and 

9 proposing solutions to problems related to the 

10 travel and tourism industry; and 

11 ‘‘(E) provide advice regarding the domestic 

12 travel and tourism industry as an economic en13 gine. 

14 ‘‘(5) RECOVERY STRATEGY.—The Board shall 

15 assist the Assistant Secretary in the development 

16 and implementation of the COVID–19 public health 

17 emergency recovery strategy required under section 

18 3(e)(1) of the Visit America Act. 

19 ‘‘(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROMOTION OF

20 TOURIST TRAVEL.—The Secretary of Commerce is au21 thorized’’; and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘the Secretary of the Interior to 

23 serve’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary of Commerce to 

24 serve’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. DATA ON DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM. 

2 The Secretary of Commerce, subject to the avail3 ability of appropriations, shall collect and make public ag4 gregate data on domestic travel and tourism trends. 

5 SEC. 7. COMPLETION OF PROCEEDING. 

6 If the Secretary of Commerce has, before the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, taken action that in whole 

8 or in part implements this Act or the amendments made 

9 by this Act, the Secretary is not required to revisit such 

10 action, but only to the extent such action is consistent with 

11 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

12 SEC. 8. DEFINED TERM. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer14 gency’’— 

15 (1) means the public health emergency first de16 clared on January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services under section 319 of 

18 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with 

19 respect to COVID–19; and 


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1 (2) includes any renewal of such declaration 

2 pursuant to such section 319. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 

2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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