The United States Senate passed today the Travel Promotion Act with its mission being to market the country as a travel destination to the global community. The Hawaii Tourism Association (HiTA) sees enormous opportunities not only for the US to market itself as a tourism destination, but for each and every state in the union to work on ways to contribute to this national marketing endeavor. HiTA sees this national legislation as a door opener for each state to add to its own current tourism activities.
Said HiTA president and founder Thomas J. Steinmetz: โWe are hoping that the US finally joins the United Nations World Travel Organization (UNWTO), as currently the United States is one of the few countries in the world that is not a member. Without a tourism department, the US has been unable to meet that criteria in order to join. The creation of the Office of Travel Promotion within the Department of Commerce means the United States can now become a member of UNWTO.”
Steinmetz went on to say: “This national tourism campaign eliminates the competition between the states, as now the states may now jointly promote tourism as one nation.
โOn a local level, the traditional state-run agency โ the Hawaii Tourism Authority โ has for too long neglected to look at new emerging markets to promote Hawaiiโs tourism. Although recommendations have been made, they all too often fall upon deaf ears. Let us hope that this opportunity that is presenting itself today is not overlooked.”
HiTA is a private organization based in Hawaii with ambassadors in 81 countries.