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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce launched a new initiative to help build a grassroots education program on the economic importance of the travel and tourism industry, during a business summit at the Chamber’s headquarters.

 

“We’re breaking ground to help strengthen one of the most important industries in the U.S.,” said David Hirschmann, senior vice president & executive vice president, NCF.  “This new grassroots coalition will help ensure that we maintain security while also protecting mobility.”

 

The Travel and Tourism Across America initiative will involve the U.S. Chamber working with state and local chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus, the business community, and mayors and governors from key destination cities in the U.S to develop a grassroots coalition of local industry leaders.  The initiative aims to recruit 50 leaders in the top 30 tourist destinations to create an education and mobilization effort to raise the awareness of the economic contributions made by the travel and tourism industry.  That industry is directly and indirectly responsible for one in eight civilian jobs in the United States. 

 

The Chamber initiative will build on long standing partnerships with the public and private sector leaders of the travel and tourism industry.   In April 2003, the Chamber, working with the Travel Business Roundtable, hosted a full-day summit, with more than 250 CEOs, business leaders, senior government officials – including three Cabinet Secretaries – to discuss the future of this critical sector of the American economy. 

 

The 2004 Summit “Securing the Future of Travel and Tourism,” will build on the success of last year’s summit and focus on the importance of travel and tourism to the economy, the need to enhance security while facilitating mobility and the need to attract foreign visitors to the United States.

 

“We realized after 9/11 and SARS that the Chamber could fill a role by working with leading industry organizations to build a grassroots coalition,” continued Hirschmann.  “We’re taking steps to ensure that the business community works to keep all the pieces together and protect the overall strength of this vital industry.”

 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

 

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