Travel Industry Leaders Meet with Barack Obama
On March 11th, a delegation of leaders from the travel industry sat down with President Barack Obama to discuss how travel can benefit the struggling United States economy. Although no decisions were reached during the meeting, several important points of discussion were addressed, including how the state of the economy is affecting group travel and events as well as how to interest more international visitors in the United States.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association stated after the meeting, “We are pleased that President Obama recognizes the power of travel to strengthen America’s economy. The travel community has an ally in President Obama and we appreciate the leadership he intends to bring to increasing travel to, and within, the United States.”
One of the most important points of the meeting was the discussion on the Travel Promotion Act. This proposed act would create a special department that would work solely on promoting travel to the United States and has the potential to create numerous jobs. Both aspects of the act would have a sizeable effect on local and national economies.
