Economic Summit Indentifies Seven Stimulus Areas Areas

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. January 15, 2009

LEXINGTON, KY, January 15, 2009 - As President-elect Obama and his team continue their work on a stimulus bill that will jump-start the economy, leaders of travel and tourism organizations have prepared recommendations on how its sector of the economy can contribute by quickly providing new jobs, new income, and new tax revenues. Following a meeting of organizational leaders from 37 entities, economic stimulus recommendations have been presented to President-elect Obama's Transition Team by participants of the Economic Summit of the Travel and Tourism Sector.

The solutions established by the group focus on the next 6-12 months and include the following seven areas. Summit participants felt that the following three items should be included in the Administration stimulus plan:

1. The provision of federal grants for travel and tourism development at the regional, state, and local levels

2. Inclusion of the Travel Promotion Act of 2008 (H.R. 3232, S. 1661) in the next economic stimulus plan

3. Provision of funding for federal lands

The remaining four items, which also can stimulate the economy, are additional recommendations for short-term Administration action:

1. The establishment of an executive office for travel and tourism

2. The creation of more user-friendly visa regulations and rrocedures for easing U.S. entry/exit systems

3. Passing highway re-authorization, including tourism development projects

4. Re-examination of travel bans

The meeting demonstrated that leaders of the travel community are committed to developing solutions to help stimulate economic growth for the U.S. economy, as well as for their members and travel and tourism overall. These participants represent the collective voice of more than 82,000 businesses and individual members.

To view the recommendations in full, please visit NTA Online.