Bill Summary
This legislation, named the "Travel and Tourism Recovery Act of 2021", requires the Secretary of Commerce to identify the resources, regulatory changes, and private sector engagement necessary to achieve annual travel and tourism goals. This includes a strategy for recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing potential future pandemics. The Secretary is also responsible for developing recommendations, timelines, and conducting needs assessments in consultation with various stakeholders. The Act also establishes a 10-year travel and tourism strategy to be submitted to Congress, updates to data collection and reporting, and the creation of a United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Possible Impacts
1. The legislation could potentially affect individuals working in the travel and tourism industry, as it calls for the Secretary of Commerce to consult with various industry partners and develop recommendations for achieving annual visitation goals and improving domestic tourism. This could lead to changes in policies and regulations that could impact their jobs and businesses.
2. The legislation could also affect individuals who travel to the United States, as it sets goals for the number of international visitors and the value of travel and tourism commerce. If these goals are not met, it could potentially lead to changes in travel policies and restrictions that could affect the experience of travelers.
3. The legislation could also impact individuals in the gig economy, such as ride-share drivers and Airbnb hosts, as it calls for recommendations for policy to support and grow the gig economy as it relates to travel and tourism. This could lead to changes in regulations and opportunities for these individuals in the industry.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7820 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7820
To require the Secretary of Commerce to identify the resources,
regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve
annual travel and tourism goals, including a travel and tourism
recovery strategy from COVID-19, and to prepare a strategy to address
potential future pandemics, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 18, 2022
Mr. Dunn (for himself, Mr. Soto, and Ms. Salazar) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Commerce to identify the resources,
regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve
annual travel and tourism goals, including a travel and tourism
recovery strategy from COVID-19, and to prepare a strategy to address
potential future pandemics, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Travel and Tourism
Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce.
Sec. 3. Travel and tourism strategy.
Sec. 4. United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Sec. 5. Data on domestic travel and tourism.
Sec. 6. Defined term.
SEC. 2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE.
(a) Visitation Goals.--The Secretary of Commerce shall--
(1) establish an annual goal, consistent with the goals of
the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section
3(1), for--
(A) the number of international visitors to the
United States; and
(B) the value of travel and tourism commerce;
(2) develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals
established pursuant to paragraph (1);
(3) ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in
consultation with--
(A) the Tourism Policy Council;
(C) the National Travel and Tourism Office;
(D) Brand USA;
(E) the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory
Board; and
(F) travel industry partners, including public and
private destination marketing organizations, travel and
tourism suppliers, and gig economy representatives from
these industries;
(4) establish short, medium, and long-term timelines for
implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to
paragraph (2);
(5) conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in
consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to
identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and
private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual commerce
goals; and
(6) provide assessments and recommendations to--
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives; and
(C) the public through a publicly accessible
website.
(b) Domestic Travel and Tourism.--The Secretary, to the extent
feasible, shall--
(1) develop recommendations and goals to support and
enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure;
and
(2) engage public and private stakeholders to support
domestic tourism.
(c) Workforce.--The Secretary shall--
(1) consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop
strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and
reliability of travel and tourism workforce data;
(2) consult with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of
Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data;
(3) provide recommendations for policy enhancements and
efficiencies; and
(4) provide recommendations for policy to support and grow
the gig economy as it relates to travel and tourism.
(d) Recovery Strategy.--
(1) Initial recovery strategy.--Not later than 1 year after
amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this
section, the Secretary, in consultation with public and private
stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health
officials, shall develop and implement a COVID-19 public health
emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel
and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic.
(2) Future recovery strategies.--After assisting in the
implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph
(1), the Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and
private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery
strategies, including but not limited to a public-private
partnership, for the travel and tourism industry in
anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would
significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as
hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, and
pandemics.
(3) Cost-benefit analysis.--In developing the COVID-19
public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph (1)
and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism
industry under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct cost-
benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic
effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and
tourism industry.
(e) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) Forecasting report.--The Secretary shall produce an
annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry,
to the extent feasible, which shall include current and
anticipated international inbound volume and spending, taking
into account the lasting effects of the COVID-19 public health
emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented
pursuant to subsection (d)(1).
(2) Bureau of economic analysis.--The Director of the
Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the
extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts,
including State level travel and tourism spending data.
(3) National travel and tourism office.--The Director of
the National Travel and Tourism Office--
(A) in partnership with the Bureau of Economic
Analysis, shall report international arrival and
spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which
shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly
available website; and
(B) shall include questions in the Survey of
International Air Travelers regarding wait-times,
visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent
applicable.
SEC. 3. TRAVEL AND TOURISM STRATEGY.
Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of
Commerce, in consultation with the United States Travel and Tourism
Advisory Board, and the Tourism Policy Council, shall develop and
submit to Congress a 10-year travel and tourism strategy, which shall
include--
(1) the establishment of goals with respect to the number
of annual international visitors to the United States and the
annual value of travel and tourism commerce during such 10-year
period;
(2) the resources needed to achieve the goals established
pursuant to paragraph (1); and
(3) recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes
that would be necessary to achieve such goals.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES TRAVEL AND TOURISM ADVISORY BOARD.
Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to encourage travel in the
United States, and for other purposes'' (15 U.S.C. 1546) is amended--
(1) by amending the section heading to read as follows:
``united states travel and tourism advisory board; advisory
committee''; and
(2) by striking ``The Secretary of Commerce is authorized''
and inserting the following:
``(a) United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.--
``(1) In general.--There is established the United States
Travel and Tourism Advisory Board (referred to in this
subsection as the `Board'), the members of which shall be
appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for 2-year terms from
among companies and organizations in the travel and tourism
industry.
``(2) Executive director.--The Assistant Secretary for
Commerce and Economic Development shall serve as the Executive
Director of the Board.
``(3) Executive secretariat.--The Director of the National
Travel and Tourism Office of the International Trade
Administration shall serve as the Executive Secretariat for the
Board.
``(4) Functions.--The Board's Charter shall specify that
the Board will--
``(A) serve as the advisory body to the Secretary
of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and
tourism industry in the United States;
``(B) advise the Secretary of Commerce on
government policies and programs that affect the United
States travel and tourism industry;
``(C) offer counsel on current and emerging issues;
``(D) provide a forum for discussing and proposing
solutions to problems related to the travel and tourism
industry; and
``(E) provide advice regarding the domestic travel
and tourism industry as an economic engine.
``(b) Advisory Committee for Promotion of Tourist Travel.--The
Secretary of Commerce is authorized''.
SEC. 5. DATA ON DOMESTIC TRAVEL AND TOURISM.
The Secretary of Commerce, subject to the availability of
appropriations, shall collect and make public aggregate data on
domestic travel and tourism trends by individuals traveling between
points within the United States.
SEC. 6. DEFINED TERM.
In this Act, the term ``COVID-19 public health emergency''--
(1) means the public health emergency first declared on
January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
247d) with respect to COVID-19; and
(2) includes any renewal of such declaration pursuant to
such section 319.
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