Tourism has been one of the fastest growing industries in the USA. In 2011, the travel and tourism industry provided support for approximately 7.5 million people and real travel and tourism spending rose by 3.5%. In 2011, more than 60 million people visited the USA and spent $153 billion (President’s Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, 2012, p.3). However, the competition in the global tourist market has become very fierce. The European and Asian countries are competing for the bigger market share and there are a large number of new destinations that attract tourists. Therefore, the USA needs to reassess its approach to the tourism development policy and make the changes that will support the growth of the tourism industry.
The National Tourism Policy Act of 1981 was one of the key documents that directed the development of the U.S. tourism in the past decades. Despite the fragmentation of tourism, the national policy was quite effective. Promotion, regulation, management of land and facilities, financial and technical assistance, and coordination were the major goals of the National Tourism Policy Act.
In 2012, President Obama stressed on the importance of tourism for the USA, because the tourism industry can create more jobs and improve the image of the USA overseas. As the result, the new travel and tourism strategy was introduced. The main goal is to reach the level of 100 million international visitors a year by 2021. They will spend more approximately $250 billion in the USA (President’s Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, 2012, p.4). In order to reach this goal, the following tasks were set: promoting the USA, improving the travel and tourism to and within the USA, offering high-quality service, coordinating the work of the federal agencies, and analysis and measuring results (President’s Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, 2012, p.33).
Undoubtedly, having an up-to-date development strategy is a step ahead for the tourism and travel industry in the USA. Nowadays, the tourism industry is facing a number of challenges that include globalization and changing markets, productivity and competitiveness, climate change, etc. (OECD, 2010, p.52-53). Moreover, tourism has been recognized by the governments as a vital economic activity and has received much political attention at all levels (OECD, 2010). Strategic planning may help the tourism industry to fully realize the potential. Moreover, in order to implement a new kind of policy, the government should apply a “whole of government” that is based on integration and cooperation across various agencies and governmental organizations (OECD, 2010, p.59).
Analysis of the current trends and the position of the U.S. tourism industry in the world could be beneficial in terms of identification of the strengths that will result in enhancement and support of the tourism industry. Tourism provides the destinations with new sources of income and currency exchange and the problem is that the representatives of government at all levels lack a deep understanding of tourism (Erdgel & Swanson, 2013, p.7). In order to have better public policy decisions, there should be more research of the tourist industry. Not only the economic benefits, but also the non-economic issues should be analyzed. They may include the socio-cultural and environmental situation in the destination communities (Erdgel & Swanson, 2013, p. 8).
In conclusion, if the policymakers develop the long term strategies that can be adjusted due to the fluctuating conditions, the development of tourism will become multifaceted and effective (Erdgel & Swanson, 2013, p. 16). Strong cooperation with a large number of governmental and non-governmental organizations may help to remove the institutional barriers and enhance the development of tourism in the USA (President’s Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, p.10). The new National Travel and Tourism Strategy seems to have identified the key challenges and provides a roadmap to a balanced policy that will help to improve the leading positions of the USA in the global tourism industry.
Works Cited
President’s Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness (2012) National Travel and Tourism
Strategy
Edgell, D., Swanson, J. (2013). Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today, and
Tomorrow (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
OECD. (2010) OECD Tourism Trends and Policies.
