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Code · BILL · 117th Congress · H.R. 6965 (Reported in House) — To promote travel and tourism in the United States, and for other purposes. · Sec. 3

Sec. 3. Responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism

897 words·~4 min read·/bill/117/hr/6965/rh/section-3·

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The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism (referred to in this section as the Assistant Secretary ), appointed pursuant to section 2(d) of the Reorganization Plan Numbered 3 of 1979, as amended by section 2, shall— establish an annual visitation goal, consistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 4(1), for— the number of international visitors to the United States; and the value of travel and tourism commerce; develop recommendations for achieving the annual goals established pursuant to paragraph (1); ensure that travel and tourism policy is developed in consultation with— the Tourism Policy Council; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the National Travel and Tourism Office;
Brand USA; the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board; and travel industry partners, including public and private destination marketing organizations, travel and tourism suppliers, and labor representatives from these industries; establish short-, medium-, and long-term timelines for implementing the recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (2); conduct Federal agency needs assessments, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to identify the resources, statutory or regulatory changes, and private sector engagement needed to achieve the annual visitation goals; and provide assessments and recommendations to— the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and the public through a publicly accessible website.
The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall— explore strategies for improving visitor visa processing with respect to— the maximum time for processing visas, by visitation type; regulatory and policy changes needed to meet the visa processing goals referred to in subparagraph (A), including changes regarding technology, processing centers, and training; and streamlining visa applications and adjudications, including application design and data collection procedures; and explore opportunities to establish pilot programs to integrate technology into the visitor visa adjudication process, including video conferencing and biometrics.
The Assistant Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall— evaluate, on an ongoing basis, domestic policy options for supporting competitiveness with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and growth of the domestic travel industry; develop recommendations and goals to support and enhance domestic tourism, separated by business and leisure; and engage public and private stakeholders to support domestic tourism. The Assistant Secretary shall— consult with the Secretary of Labor to develop strategies and best practices for improving the timeliness and reliability of travel and tourism workforce data; work with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data; and provide recommendations for policy enhancements and efficiencies.
The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with relevant Federal agencies, shall work to increase and facilitate international business travel to the United States and ensure competitiveness by engaging in, at a minimum— facilitating large meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions to be hosted in the United States; emphasizing rural and other destinations rich in cultural heritage or ecological tourism, among other uniquely American destinations, as locations for hosting international meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions in the United States; and facilitating sports and recreation events and activities, which shall be hosted in the United States.
Not later than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this section, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with public and private stakeholders identified in subsection (a)(3) and public health officials, shall develop and implement a COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy to assist the United States travel and tourism industry to quickly recover from the pandemic. After assisting in the implementation of the strategy developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry in anticipation of other unforeseen catastrophic events that would significantly affect the travel and tourism industry, such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, terrorist attacks, and pandemics.
In developing the COVID–19 public health emergency recovery strategy under paragraph
(1)and additional recovery strategies for the travel and tourism industry under paragraph (2), the Assistant Secretary shall conduct cost-benefit analyses that take into account the health and economic effects of public health mitigation measures on the travel and tourism industry. The Assistant Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, which shall include current and anticipated— domestic employment needs; international inbound volume and spending, taking into account the lasting effects of the COVID–19 public health emergency and the impact of the recovery strategy implemented pursuant to subsection (f)(1); and domestic volume and spending, including Federal and State public land travel and tourism data. The Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis should annually update, to the extent feasible, the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts, including— State level travel and tourism spending data; travel and tourism workforce data for full-time and part-time employment; and Federal and State public lands outdoor recreational activity and tourism spending data. The Director of the National Travel and Tourism Office— in partnership with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, shall report international arrival and spending data on a regular monthly schedule, which shall be made available to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and to the public through a publicly available website; and shall include questions in the Survey of International Air Travelers regarding wait-times, visits to public lands, and State data, to the extent applicable.
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