New federal legislation could help to bring more visitors to the county’s theme parks, hotels and beaches.
Under the Travel Promotions Act, which President Obama signed in March, a national board is set to work with local agencies to market Orange County and other sites to international travelers.
The government is set to help local tourism-related businesses develop advertising and educational campaigns to advise potential travelers on how to navigate U.S. visa requirements and security procedures.
“The travel promotion legislation will help support the estimated 160,000 travel-dependent workers here,” said Steve Bone, chair of the Orange County Tourism Council.
The program would be paid for by private money and by levies on international travelers who don’t pay visa fees to visit. It wouldn’t tap taxpayer money.
The act could provide an immediate benefit for local travel-related agencies—which have been hammered in the economic downturn—as well as help stem the loss of visitors to the U.S.
The nation saw 2.4 million fewer overseas visitors in 2009 than in 2000. Meanwhile, the number of international travelers rose 29% to 880 million in the same period.
“The U.S. is actually going to look at tourism as a great export and benefit to the economy,” said Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau.
The failure to keep pace with international travel growth has cost the economy an estimated $509 billion in total spending and $32 billion in direct tax receipts, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
On a local level, tourist spending dropped about 10% to $7.1 billion in 2009 from a year earlier, according CIC Research Inc. Spending’s down $1.2 billion since 2007.
Advocates of the law say once the program is up and running it could help attract 1.6 million new international visitors to the U.S., $4 billion in additional spending and more than $300 million in tax revenue each year.
“It’s certainly going to help us a lot,” said Brad Logsdon, director of sales and marketing at the Hilton Anaheim.
The Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau is predicting about 43 million people will travel to OC and spend about $7.3 billion this year.
Structure, Leadership
The Department of Commerce will oversee the new tourism board.
Caroline Beteta, president and chief executive of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, is expected join the board when it is created in September, according to sources.
The federal program will be closely modeled after California’s ongoing tourism program.
California passed a similar bill in 1998 to create the California Travel and Tourism Commission to work jointly with California’s Division of Tourism to implement the annual marketing plans, which promote California as a travel destination. Several of the TV ads feature celebrities who call California home.
“Before the California travel act was passed, there was no advertising for California,” Ahlers said.
California on average sees about 13.5 million international visitors who on average spend about $18.5 billion yearly.
“It represents on average 19% of all the visitors spending in California,” Bone said.
Tourism is California’s fourth largest employer and fifth largest contributor to the gross state product.
