Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Angus King (I-ME) have introduced legislation they maintain is designed to bolster the nation’s tourism economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Visit America Act would set a visitation goal of 116 million annual international travelers to the United States by 2028, formally authorize the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and create a high-ranking position within the Department of Commerce focused on enhancing America’s travel and tourism industry and coordinating a strategy across multiple federal agencies.
“Wide-spread travel restrictions and social distancing orders have helped combat the spread of the coronavirus, but these public health measures have also decimated many sectors of the economy, most especially tourism,” Sullivan said. “Whole communities in Alaska and across the country have seen their travel season and their livelihoods wiped away in a matter of weeks. I’m glad to be joined by Senators Schatz and King in a new effort to rebuild and reinvigorate the tourism economy and the thousands of jobs it supports with a coordinated, whole-of-government strategy at the highest levels of the administration.”
The legislation would also require the development and implementation of a recovery strategy to assist the travel and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic, officials said.
“From the coasts to the forests to the mountains, Maine’s unparalleled beauty never disappoints – which is why every year, millions of people from across the globe travel to our state to experience The Way Life Should Be,” King, ranking member of the National Parks Subcommittee, said. “The impacts of this year’s reduced travel will be felt for years to come. We need a forceful response to support the tourism industry and the communities that rely on it.”