Commerce Secretary Reports Record Highs in U.S. Tourism
by Cherie Duvall
 Amidst a “sluggish time” in the economy, a record-breaking high of 56.7 million international tourists voyaged to the U.S. last year, pumping nearly $123 billion into the country’s economy, reported Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez last week at NLC’s Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C.
Released last Monday, the figures show that traveling and tourism is America’s leading services export and is also a positive contributor to the country’s balance of trade.
“Traveling and tourism is one of the country’s most important industries and, very importantly, one of our largest employers,” Gutierrez noted. “It supports millions of U.S. jobs and generates billions in local, state and federal taxes.”
Though spending in the traveling and tourism industry increased by nearly 14 percent over the previous record set in 2006, the country continues to face economic challenges. These challenges will likely decrease with President Bush’s economic growth package that will protect the health of the economy by putting money back into the hands of American workers and businesses, according to Gutierrez.
The package amounts to more than $152 billion, provides tax rebates to more than 130 million American households and offers temporary tax incentives for businesses to invest in their companies and create jobs this year. Gutierrez said the package will provide a “needed boost,” with incentives for both consumers and businesses, while the country gets through the transition in the housing market.
While the economy is being impacted by the transition, Gutierrez said that net exports remain a “key driver” of U.S. economic growth and the “bright spot” in the economy is the fact that the U.S. is exporting more and the exports are outgrowing the imports.
“That is a huge opportunity that we should be taking advantage of,” he said speaking of the growth in exports.
On the other hand, Gutierrez revealed that trade is subject to great debate in Washington, D.C., and expressed his objection to the thought of the U.S. quitting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated the majority of tariffs on products traded among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and gradually phased out other tariffs.
“Quitting NAFTA would destroy economies in the U.S. border communities, hurt U.S. farmers, rip apart North American supply chains and information systems, devastate large and small exporters, and cause incredible damage to the overall American supply,” he said.
Gutierrez also discussed how important it is for cities to prepare for the Digital Television (DTV) transition that will take place on February 17, 2009. With the purpose of freeing up airwaves for use by emergency responders, all full-power television stations in the U.S. will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to digital broadcasting.
“It’s a very important transition,” Gutierrez explained. “It’s going to help our emergency services throughout the country, … it’ll help innovation in the future, but, very importantly, the key thing is to get the implementation right, to get through the transition in an orderly way.”
The transition will only affect TVs that receive programs for free, using an antenna. Consumers have several options to transition into digital broadcasting: keeping their existing analog TV and purchasing a TV converter box; connecting to cable, satellite or other pay services; or purchasing a TV with a digital tuner.
For those wishing to keep using their analog TV, Congress created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, which allows U.S. households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40, that can be applied toward the cost of converter boxes.
Details: For more information on the transition to DTV and the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, go to www.dtv2009.gov.
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