President expected to confirm Travel Promotion Act passage

Washington, D.C. –  The U.S. Senate passed the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), sending this important industry priority to President Barack Obama’s desk for his signature.

“This vote is significant, for it is the final legislative hurdle to pass before this bill is sent to President Obama for his signature,” said AH&LA President and CEO Joseph McInerney. “Achieving this victory was the result of years of hard work by many individuals in the travel industry and Congress.  I want to personally thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who early on recognized the importance of this bill to the U.S. travel industry.  He understood what we have been saying all along about the Travel Promotion Act, its ability to create jobs, and the economic stimulus thousands of American lodging and tourism-related businesses will receive from it.  AH&LA was proud to help lobby for the passage of this bill over the last three years, for it will deliver benefits to our members for years to come.”
 
In addition to Majority Leader Reid, there were many lawmakers who championed the bill.  Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) also deserve the industry’s sincere thanks for their hard work on behalf of America’s hoteliers.
 
The Senate passed this bill during a late evening 78-18 vote, coming a little less than four months after the House passed its updated version of the bill on November 6, 2009.  After an earlier 79-19 Senate vote last September, the bill encountered a parliamentary hurdle that caused the legislation to face a second series of House and Senate votes.  
 
President Obama has indicated he will sign the bill shortly.   He was a co-sponsor of the legislation in the 110th Congress and supports the efforts of the travel industry to create new jobs to support his Administration’s stated mission of economic recovery this year.  His recent remarks in Las Vegas about TPA also signaled his support of the bill and what it will achieve.
 
“AH&LA has been working for the passage of TPA since it was first introduced in the 109th Congress,” said Marlene Colucci, AH&LA executive vice president of public policy.  “The passage of this bill could not have come at a better time for U.S. hoteliers, with the travel industry slowly recovering from a weak economic environment.  Once implemented, this bill will create 40,000 new U.S. jobs to handle the 1.6 million new visitors to this country.  And when those travelers spend a projected $4 billion in their visits, that activity will generate $321 million in tax revenue, helping to reduce the federal budget deficit by $425 million over the next ten years.  This bill will deliver the kind of serious economic growth that the United States needs to experience to pull itself out of this recession.”