Destination Capitol Hill by John Dersham

I spent last week with tourism executives from all around the country who come to Washington D.C. every spring to bring forth the legislative issues that are of interest to our industry. Last week I, along with Alabama tourism partners, visited with all of our US House of Representatives and senators that represent our state at the federal level. These visits help our elected officials understand our issues and why we’d like them to support our legislative issues.
This has become an easy task in hard economic times due to the fact tourism has shown growth even in the worst of economic times. Due to our success there has been a lot more emphasis at the state and federal level, in support of our industry. Our issues are very small in comparison to some of the issues like gun control, immigration, North Korea and the budget that were all being discussed and argued about all week. I think our representatives considered our issues easy and refreshing when compared with everything else. We are the positive news in a rough time.
Our visit to Washington was on behalf of the Southeast Tourism Society and the National Travel Association. I am part of this as a representative of the Policy Council at Southeast Tourism Society and Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. I am honored to play a role in helping Fort Payne and DeKalb County grow via economic development that comes through positive growth oriented legislation. Tourism is our nation’s third largest growth industry, behind two medical services industries. Last year international travel to the US grew by $600 billion and now accounts for $2 Trillion in economic output in the United States.  Tourism in the United States employees 14.6 million people. This growth is aided by the completion of one full year of an international marketing campaign advertising International travel in the USA by Brand USA. People in 18 countries see TV, web and print ads generated under the new international advertising plan. It is the first such international adverting program for tourism since the early 90’s. International travelers come with lots of money and lots of time. They bring us large amounts of tax revenues into our cities and towns. Our National Park system, a favorite among international travelers serves as a gateway to smaller markets. This is true of our area. Little River Canyon is getting international Visitors and in turn our local economy gets lodging, retail and restaurant sales, attractions and museums are visited and our entire community benefits from the increased tax revenues. We are fortunate locally that we are a destination that both domestic and international visitors enjoy.