Sec. 2. Responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce
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The Secretary of Commerce shall— establish an annual goal, consistent with the goals of the travel and tourism strategy developed pursuant to section 3(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 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 gig economy 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 commerce 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 Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall— 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 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; consult with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve travel and tourism industry data; provide recommendations for policy enhancements and efficiencies; and provide recommendations for policy to support and grow the gig economy as it relates to travel and tourism.
Not later than 1 year after amounts are appropriated to accomplish the purposes of this section, the 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 Secretary, in consultation with appropriate public and private stakeholders, shall develop additional recovery strategies, including but not limited to a public-private partnership, 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 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 Secretary shall produce an annual forecasting report on the travel and tourism industry, to the extent feasible, which shall include current and anticipated 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 (d)(1). 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. 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.