Senate Majority Leader Seeks Vote on Travel Promotion Act

The proposed Travel Promotion Act (S.1023) being supported by the travel industry got a boost when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that he wanted a Senate floor vote on the measure before the August recess.

The U.S. Travel Association said this is yet another positive step towards the creation of a national public-private partnership to promote the U.S. –at no cost to the American taxpayer. The bill would create a new “Corporation for Travel Promotion,” a nonprofit corporation that would seek to find ways to reverse the decline in travel to the United States.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved it by voice vote May 20. A companion bill is expected to be introduced soon by the House of Representatives. In 2008, the bill passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support from 243 co-sponsors and also got the support of 52 U.S. senators.