Minneapolis | May 11, 2012 - “President Obama and the Administration gave a tremendous boost to the Travel and Tourism Industry on May 10 by releasing an ambitious National Travel and Tourism Strategy. The strategy, developed by Secretary of Commerce John Bryson and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, lays out bold goals and a set of actions that have the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs here in the U.S.
One of the main goals of the strategy is to increase the number of international visitors to the U.S. by 50 percent by 2021 to 100 million, a number that would generate USD250 billion in annual spend, with the related impact on jobs and exports.
We are delighted to see the Administration embrace the importance and potential of the Travel and Tourism industry, and we applaud the actions that the National Travel and Tourism Strategy outlines, including many that the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board articulated a year ago in its recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, such as actions to promote the United States, and actions to facilitate travel to the U.S. by streamlining the visa application process and improving customer service at our ports of entry.
We are grateful for the leadership of key members of the Administration in the Commerce, State, and Homeland Security Departments, and key members of Congress, especially U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, who have led us to this major milestone.
I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration on the facilitation of international travel to the United States as a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board appointed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson.”
Carlson is a global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group includes more than 1,300 hotels in operation and development, including, Radisson Blu, Radisson®, Park Plaza®; Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM and Hotel Missoni; more than 900 T.G.I. Friday’s® restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel®, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and territories and its brands employ more than 170,000 people. http://www.carlson.com
Molly Biwer, Carlson
+1 (763) 212-2901
mbiwer@carlson.com
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world's largest and most dynamic hotel groups.