WASHINGTON (May 23, 2017)— U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the proposed elimination of the Brand USA tourism marketing agency in President Trump's federal budget document:
"With all that's going on in the world, unilaterally disarming the marketing of the U.S. as a travel destination would be to surrender market share at the worst possible time. It's especially perplexing that the elimination of Brand USA is on the table when both Commerce Secretary Ross and OMB Director Mulvaney each have supported it previously.
"The creation of Brand USA was a bipartisan effort led by Republicans that passed both chambers by overwhelming majorities. The agency was responsible for adding $8.9 billion to the U.S. economy last year, according to the firm Oxford Economics—a 28-to-1 return on investment. Brand USA isn't funded with a dime of taxpayer money, reduced the deficit by $50 million, and by the OMB's own accounting eliminating it would put the federal budget further in the red.
"With international visitation being the country's No. 2 export supporting 15 million American jobs, we're struggling to understand how cutting Brand USA squares with this administration's stated priorities."
