IV
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 110
To express the sense of Congress that the President convene a White House
Conference on Tourism to recognize travel and tourism in America as
a major economic force, providing tax revenue for thousands of cities,
counties, and States, income for hundreds of thousands of business
firms, and contributing to the Nation’s growth and economic stability.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 10, 1993
Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. ROTH, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. BACCHUS of Flor-
ida, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BREWSTER, Mr. DE LUGO, Mr. GEKAS, Mr.
KOPETSKI, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr.
RAVENEL, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. BEVILL, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, and Mr.
LAROCCO) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred jointly to the Committees on Public Works and Transportation and
Energy and Commerce
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To express the sense of Congress that the President convene
a White House Conference on Tourism to recognize trav-
el and tourism in America as a major economic force,
providing tax revenue for thousands of cities, counties,
and States, income for hundreds of thousands of business
firms, and contributing to the Nation’s growth and eco-
nomic stability.
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
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SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) JOB
GENERATION.—(A) Travel industry
employment has grown by 43 percent in the last 10
years representing twice the growth rate for all
United States industries.
(B) The travel and tourism industry directly
employs 6,000,000 people and indirectly creates em-
ployment for another 3,000,000 Americans or 1 in
every 13 workers.
(C) Wage and salary income from tourism was
4 times that of the Nation’s steel and automobile
manufacturing combined in 1991.
(2) 
TRANSPORTATION
AND
TOURISM
INTERDEPENDENCY.—(A) Successful tourism devel-
opment requires the linkage of transportation facili-
ties with recreational lands, small businesses, and
businesses supporting the traveling public, such as
intercity bus, rail, and air passenger carriers, cruise
ships, dining establishments, hotels, motels, camp-
grounds, car rental firms, and other recreation serv-
ice providers.
(B) For transportation investment initiatives to
contribute toward economic development, such initia-
tives must be responsive to emerging economic cir-
cumstances.
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(C) Affordability, flexibility, and convenience
make automobile travel the most popular mode of
transportation for Americans, accounting for ap-
proximately 80 percent of all travel in the United
States.
(D) Establishment of appropriate transpor-
tation links from each community to the rest of the
Nation is a desirable goal.
(E) The recent Federal commitment to scenic
byways includes specific enticements to communities
which invest in tourism development, successfully
linking transportation with historic, scenic, and
recreation interests across America.
(F) The airline industry has recorded losses for
the past 3 years exceeding $10,000,000,000 result-
ing in the lay-offs of over 60,000 employees and
causing the loss of thousands of other jobs in indus-
tries dependent on aviation.
(G) A White House Conference on Tourism
could contribute substantially toward a better under-
standing of the airline industry’s problems and could
help airlines resume growth through the expansion
of tourism.
(3) SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM.—(A) The Sce-
nic Byways Program meets many of the needs of
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recreational and touring Americans, particularly rec-
reational drivers, bicyclists, and hikers.
(B) The Scenic Byways Program protects the
scenic, historic, recreational, cultural, natural and
archeological integrity of regional communities, fur-
ther enhancing tourism development along these
routes.
(C) The Scenic Byways Program gives commu-
nities the opportunity to invest in economic develop-
ment initiatives that promote responsible growth and
allow tourists to enjoy both the natural beauty and
modern conveniences of travel.
(4) NEED FOR LEADERSHIP.—(A) Many com-
munities already have the tourism resources with po-
tential to improve local economic conditions, but lack
the organizational framework to organize, plan, and
implement programs to improve local economies.
(B) A White House Conference on Tourism
would help develop a better informed and active
leadership further ensuring the stable and steady
growth of tourism.
(5) FEDERAL LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DE-
VELOPMENT.—(A) The National Park Service, Unit-
ed States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation,
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United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau
of Indian Affairs maintain more than 626,500,000
acres of land, much of which is used for recreational
and tourism related activities.
(B) 1,259,000,000 visitors spent recreational
time on land managed by the Federal Government
in 1991.
(C) The State park system in the United States
recorded 734,000,000 visitors to the more than
11,000,000 acres in 4,367 State parks during 1991.
(6) SMALL
BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT.—(A)
Small businesses account for over 90 percent of the
travel and tourism industry.
(B) The Small Business Administration’s 2
rural travel and tourism loan programs in 1992 ex-
ceeded $500,000,000 in loans to assist hotels, camp-
grounds, lodging services, amusement services, tour-
ist information bureaus, and transportation services.
(C) Tourism represents a unique opportunity
for small business development in disadvantaged
communities to diversify and improve their economic
base.
(7) INTERNATIONAL
TRADE
AND
TOURISM.—
(A) 42,700,000 foreign visitors spent approximately
$48,800,000,000 at United States travel destina-
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tions in 1991, making tourism America’s number 1
export and creating a net trade surplus of
$16,000,000,000.
(B) International tourism, the largest American
business, accounts for 11 percent of the total United
States export of goods and services.
(C) The money expended by international visi-
tors in the United States in 1990 directly accounted
for 870,000 American jobs.
(8) AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMIC DE-
VELOPMENT.—(A) A task force of Federal agencies
is coordinating resources of these agencies to help
rural communities expand rural development pro-
grams through enhanced tourism.
(B) The food service industry provides employ-
ment for over 9,000,000 people and is a critical link
to tourism trade.
(C) The American tourist’s spending patterns
reveal that dining out accounts for 25 cents of every
traveler’s dollar and nearly 1⁄2 of all the sales in
America’s fine-dining restaurants comes from out-of-
town guests.
(9) ECO-TOURISM.—(A) The tourism industry
has a fundamental obligation to balance environ-
mental concerns with the use of natural resources to
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prevent depletion and degradation of the environ-
ment through proper planning and management
processes.
(B) The President has recommended the cre-
ation of new partnerships committed to community
service programs to stimulate investment in commu-
nities and the rebuilding of our national infrastruc-
ture and natural resources.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that (1) the President rec-
ognize the influential role rail, bus, air passenger service,
highway, and byway investments and other transportation
initiatives have in the development of tourism opportuni-
ties in the United States by convening a White House
Conference on Tourism to address critical issues which
highlight the interdependence of transportation and tour-
ism, and (2) transportation infrastructure and the Scenic
Byways Program are key components of economic develop-
ment and should be addressed by the Conference.
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