{
  "id": "R43463",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43463",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 437907,
      "date": "2015-02-03",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T19:33:22.945064",
      "title": "U.S. Travel and Tourism: Industry Trends and Policy Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "The U.S. travel and tourism industry accounted for 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 and directly employed nearly 5.4 million people in 2013. Tourism exports reached a record $215 billion in 2013, representing almost a third of total U.S. services exports. The sector has posted an annual trade surplus with the world for more than two decades. The Department of Commerce forecasts foreign visitor volume in the United States will reach nearly 90 million in 2019.\nIn 1996, Congress stopped funding the United States Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA), which for 35 years promoted the United States as a tourist destination. In 2009, it established a public-private entity to promote U.S. tourism, the Corporation for Travel Promotion, which does business as Brand USA. The Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA; P.L. 111-145) first authorized federal funds for Brand USA. The program is funded by a $10 user fee assessed on international visitors from more than three dozen visa waiver program countries and requires annual in-kind and cash matching contributions from the U.S. tourism industry. Brand USA can receive matching federal funds capped at $100 million annually. The program has been controversial, with some Members of Congress characterizing it as an inappropriate use of federal funds to benefit private entities. However, after considerable debate, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235), signed into law by President Obama on December 16, 2014, extended Brand USA through September 30, 2020.\nThe Obama Administration in 2012 established a Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, which was charged with developing and implementing a strategy to increase the annual number of international visitors to 100 million by 2021. Among other things, the task force has recommended expediting visa processing for tourists from certain emerging economies, such as China and Brazil, and expanding the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows citizens from more than three dozen countries to travel to the United States without obtaining visas. \nIn recent Congresses, congressional committees have held hearings to assess the economic effects of travel and tourism on the U.S. economy. Legislation affecting travel and tourism addresses many different topics such as online gambling; safety and security aboard cruise ships; funding for national parks, forests, and historical sites; and taxes on the rental of motor vehicles. The tourism industry may also be strongly affected by homeland security and immigration legislation, including possible changes to the visa waiver program, with some lawmakers calling for its expansion and others for its suspension or elimination, which could make it more complex and costly for foreign visitors to enter the United States.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43463",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306430/",
      "id": "R43463_2014Apr02",
      "date": "2014-04-02",
      "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44",
      "title": "U.S. Travel and Tourism: Industry Trends and Policy Issues for Congress",
      "summary": "This report discusses the travel and tourism industry, which is an amalgam of business activities including transportation, lodging, entertainment, meals, and retail trade.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20140402_R43463_62a4060019a5b3c1518e3708552553f448ec84a6.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20140402_R43463_62a4060019a5b3c1518e3708552553f448ec84a6.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Tourism",
          "name": "Tourism"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Hotels, motels, etc.",
          "name": "Hotels, motels, etc."
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Travel",
          "name": "Travel"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Transportation",
          "name": "Transportation"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Health Policy"
  ]
}