Earlier this month more than 1,000 leaders of the US travel industry joined 130 members of Congress to launch a new strategy aimed at reviving the nation’s ailing tourist trade.
The Discover America Partnership has issued a national challenge to attract 10 million more international tourists to the US each year.
The partnership will run a non-stop advocacy campaign designed to educate policymakers on the power of travel and the American people, highlight the unnecessary obstacles to welcoming more visitors and determine how the US can better compete for international visitors.
Stevan Porter, chair of the Discover America Partnership and president of InterContinental Hotels Group, said: “Our declining image is having an enormous impact on the country’s economic and national security. Research shows a 42 per cent increase in favourability of the US among those who have visited the country, so as a nation, we must do a better job of welcoming international visitors. With each new visitor we have an opportunity to share what is best about America – our people, our values and our vitality.”
Supporters of the Discover America Partnership include JW Marriott, chair of Marriott International; Jay Rasulo, chair of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Jonathan Tisch, chairman of Loews Hotels.
“In the effort to win hearts and minds, we have a unique card to play,” said Rasulo. “That card is an invitation – an invitation to visit America, meet our people and experience our values.”
The partnership is in response to a study carried out in May by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which found that the US is suffering from a rapidly declining image abroad. In most nations, favourable opinions of the US are well below 50 per cent.
According to the report, the US share of the growing worldwide travel market dropped by 36 per cent between 1992 and 2005, costing the nation US$43bn (£22.9bn, 34bn euro) in lost revenue in 2005 alone. The nation’s international tourism balance of trade has declined more than 70 per cent over the past 10 years – from US$26.3bn (£14bn, 20.8bn euro) in 1996 to US$7.4bn (£3.9bn, 5.8bn euro) in 2005.
