Council unanimously approves LaBonge tourism initiative

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved Councilmember Tom LaBonge's resolution to encourage international tourism to the U.S. through support of the Travel Promotion Act of 2007. This pending federal legislation, H.R. 3232, sets up a non-profit organization to create funding for an international marketing campaign to promote urban and rural destinations from around the United States and welcome foreign visitors to the U.S.

"I want to do what I can to help tourists from around the world visit our dynamic City of Los Angeles," said Councilmember LaBonge, president of Sister Cities of Los Angeles, Inc., a non-profit corporation. "International tourism is good for the country and great for Los Angeles. I hope that the city's support for this legislation motivates Washington to adopt it soon."

Official positions of the City of Los Angeles with respect to pending federal legislation must first be adopted as a resolution by the City Council. H.R. 3232 responds to a decline in overseas travel to the U.S. post-9/11. While the number of global overseas travelers has increased by 35 million since 2000, the U.S. has welcomed 2 million fewer overseas visitors.

This legislation enables establishment of the non-profit Corporation of Travel Promotion to promote international tourism. The $100 million cost is comparable to the foreign tourism promotion budgets of several other countries. The corporation would be funded jointly through passenger fees and contributions from the private sector of the tourism industry.

"Tourism is the second largest industry in Los Angeles and during these trying economic times, it's important to encourage our international visitors to come to LA and stay in our great hotels, go to our unique attractions and get entranced in the whole LA experience," said Mark Liberman, President and CEO, LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The City Council's support of HR 3232, The Travel Promotion Act of 2007, is important to help grow tourism in the United States and will help strengthen LA's economy."