§9803 Responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism

Summary

The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism must set yearly goals for how many international visitors come to the United States and how much money travel and tourism bring in. Assistant Secretary: the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism. The Assistant Secretary must work with the travel industry, the Travel Promotion Committee, and the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board to make those goals match the national travel strategy. They must make plans and timelines to reach the goals, and make recommendations on policy. They must develop policy with many federal and industry partners, including the Tourism Policy Council, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, the Corporation for Travel Promotion, the advisory board, destination marketers, travel suppliers, gig-economy firms, and labor groups. They must review what federal agencies need—money, rule changes, or private-sector help—working with OMB, and send their findings to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and to the public on a website. The Assistant Secretary must also study and support domestic tourism, set separate goals for business and leisure travel, and work with public and private partners. They must help improve travel and tourism workforce and economic data with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and give policy ideas, including about the gig economy. They must try to boost international business travel, promote meetings and conferences, highlight rural and cultural or nature-based destinations, and support sports and recreation events. Within 1 year after funds are provided to the Department of Commerce for these purposes, they must create recovery plans for COVID–19 and other big disasters (such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, wildfires, terrorist attacks, and pandemics) and do cost‑benefit analyses that consider health and economic effects. If money is available, they must publish an annual forecast on jobs, international arrivals and spending (including COVID’s lasting effects and recovery), and domestic travel and public lands spending. The BEA should, when funded, update travel accounts quarterly with state and workforce data. The National Travel and Tourism Office must give monthly reports on international arrivals and spending to the advisory board and the public, and add certain questions to the Survey of International Air Travelers.