Sunshine Matters

On October 29, VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Chris Thompson and Dale Brill, Director of the Governor’s Office on Tourism, Trade and Economic Development made a “State of the Florida Tourism” report to the Florida Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C.  The report focused on recent visitation numbers and marketing trends.  This meeting also served as an opportunity to present ideas our congressional delegation might consider, including support of national tourism efforts.  Those issues include the Travel Promotion Act, Visa Waiver Program, the Meetings Mean Business initiative and crisis planning for H1N1.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Travel Association brought together a dozen CEOs from leading travel companies to discuss common issues and meet with President Obama to encourage his support for business travel during these tough economic times. It was a pivotal moment in our successful effort to curb the negative rhetoric surrounding corporate meetings and incentive travel.

The success of that gathering led to a larger gathering last month of nearly two dozen CEOs from major travel companies who recognized the value in jointly working to address issues critical to our industry.  To most effectively use this opportunity to push the travel community’s agenda with policymakers, separate meetings were held with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, co-sponsor of the Travel Promotion Act, and Sen. Mark Warner.

Key issues discussed included:

• Seeking the Administration’s continued support of legitimate travel for business meetings, events and incentive travel, including travel by employees of companies who have received bailout money;
• Improving availability of credit for franchisees and other travel-related small businesses;
• Securing final passage of the Travel Promotion Act, which will create the first-ever U.S. promotion and communications program targeted to international travelers;
• Possibly expanding the Visa Waiver Program to enable visitors from more countries to visit the U.S. without requiring a visa;
• Improving the entry experience at our top international airports; and
• Including the travel community in future emergency preparedness efforts, including further developments related to the H1N1 flu.

On behalf of the entire travel community in Florida, special thanks go to the top executives who took time out from their normal responsibilities to their shareholders to advocate on behalf of all of us.  These meetings in Washington continue the tremendous momentum we’ve achieved in helping policymakers better understand why travel matters and the important role it plays in our overall economy.