Brand USA in Jeopardy Under Trump Budget
The U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) released separate statements after the future of Brand USA was threatened due to President Trump’s proposed budget cuts.
The proposed budget would eliminate Brand USA, a federally funded organization that promotes the country overseas as a tourist destination, and shift revenue to Customs and Border Protection.
Brand USA was created by Congress in 2010 and began operating in 2011. It has been funded through visa fees every year and Congress voted in 2014 to reauthorize the program until 2020.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the proposed elimination of the Brand USA tourism marketing agency in Trump’s federal budget document.
“With all that's going on in the world, unilaterally disarming the marketing of the U.S. as a travel destination would be to surrender market share at the worst possible time,” Dow said. “It’s especially perplexing that the elimination of Brand USA is on the table when both Commerce Secretary Ross and OMB Director Mulvaney each have supported it previously.
“The creation of Brand USA was a bipartisan effort led by Republicans that passed both chambers by overwhelming majorities. The agency was responsible for adding $8.9 billion to the U.S. economy last year, according to the firm Oxford Economics — a 28-to-1 return on investment. Brand USA isn’t funded with a dime of taxpayer money, reduced the deficit by $50 million, and by the OMB’s own accounting eliminating it would put the federal budget further in the red.
Source: Meetings Today
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