DHS Adds $14 Fee for U.S. Visitors to Fund Travel Promotion

The Department of Homeland Security will start charging travelers from Visa Waiver countries a $14 fee that will fund a global marketing and promotion campaign aimed at increasing the number of international visitors to the United States. As of Sept. 8, travelers will be charged a $14 fee when applying for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization. A portion of the fee will go toward funding the Corporation for Travel Promotion, created by the 2009 Travel Promotion Act.

Overseas visitors spend an average of $4,000 per person, per trip in the United States. Oxford Economics estimates the travel promotion program under the Travel Promotion Act will generate $4 billion in new visitor spending and 40,000 new jobs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the program will reduce the federal budget deficit by $425 million in the next 10 years.

President Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 (TPA) into law earlier this year, putting into place a new public-private partnership between the U.S. government and the nation’s travel and tourism industry. Under the TPA, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will appoint the board of directors for the Corporation for Travel Promotion. The Commerce Department will work closely with the board to ensure the corporation achieves its goals. The U.S. Travel Association immediately applauded the move.

According to Oxford Economics, the inability of the United States to simply keep pace with average growth in international long-haul travel over the past decade has cost the nation’s economy an estimated $509 billion in total spending and 441,000 American jobs. In addition, the U.S. forfeited an estimated $32 billion in direct tax receipts over the same period, according to a statement from the U.S. Travel Association.