World Travel & Tourism Council Estimates $200 Million Needed To Jump-Start Industry

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for business leaders, with CEOs from 100 of the world’s leading travel and tourism companies as its members. As one of the world’s largest industries (employing approximately 230 million people and generating over 10% of the world’s GDP), its goal is to raise awareness of travel and tourism.

Less than six months after WTTC’s Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Washington (DC), the Council and its American members are calling on the U.S. Government to “recognize the state of the industry.” Which they contend is in need of attention, having lost an average of $20 billion a year due to a declining status worldwide.

WTTC’s manifesto for the industry outlines five recommendations:

• The economic and social importance of travel & tourism needs to be recognized at the highest levels of government.

• The U.S. Government must focus and finish its plans to introduce new security measures based on biometric technology, which will boost public confidence and provide a positive image of the United States.

• It’s recommended that U.S. stakeholders from federal and state governments, along with the private sector, meet at a nationwide conference around the theme “Reconquer Markets, Regain Confidence.” The main aim of this conference should be to develop a 3-year agenda with clearly defined objectives geared towards regaining the status of the USA as the most important Travel & Tourism destination in the world.

• It’s time to embrace a national marketing strategy and mandate a significant national promotional budget directed towards those markets that represent the greatest potential for the destination. WTTC estimates that $200 million would be a realistic starting point from which a marketing campaign could make a significant impact.