HURRICANE KATRINA RECOVERY INFORMATION

STATEMENT BY JONATHAN M. TISCH
CHAIRMAN, TRAVEL BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
SEPTEMBER 22, 2005

While the news accounts on television continue to portray the total devastation of the Gulf Coast region and the lawlessness that has ensued in the aftermath, the spirit of the people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is simply extraordinary and not captured enough in the coverage. Of one thing I am certain, the area will recover and rebuild, and the travel and tourism industry will play a central role in that rebirth.

TIA President and CEO Roger Dow and I had the opportunity to meet, in New York last Friday, with Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu. We then flew down to Baton Rouge, LA earlier this week for meetings with state government officials and tourism leaders. It was heartening to see so many dedicated professionals, who themselves lost everything, helping to strategize how best to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Roger and I were honored to be able to pledge the support of the entire travel and tourism industry for recovery efforts. We were able to report to them the extraordinary aid that our industry has made available to date, and the immediate and growing successes of www.katrinajobs.org, which now has over 1,100 available jobs and grows larger by the hour. They were extremely grateful for our industry’s assistance.

In addition to the job bank and other offers of humanitarian aid, the TBR and TIA government affairs team, in conjunction with other industry lobbyists, has been working around the clock to draft a comprehensive, targeted legislative relief package that focuses on employee and employer/owner assistance. At every stage of development, input was sought from TBR members to make sure that the legislative relief would provide the most targeted and essential relief for all those affected by Hurricane Katrina as well as specific measures to rebuild the travel and tourism industry in the region. The final document, which was met by praise from Louisiana state government leaders, has been sent to Congress and the Bush Administration for their consideration. While two emergency supplemental aid packages have already been funded by Congress, there will be a much larger relief package sent to Congress once more of the damage has been assessed. It is our intent that our package, which we are now working to develop Congressional support for, will be considered as part of forthcoming tax relief and appropriations legislation, which we foresee coming in multiple vehicles as we work toward full recovery. The full text of our legislative relief package, which is twelve pages in length, can be found at www.tbr.org in the special Katrina Relief section.

It is important to also note that Roger and I met with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez last week to discuss the importance of rebuilding and rejuvenating travel and tourism in the Gulf Coast and the special need to promote the region as a travel destination when it is once again ready for visitors. The Secretary offered support from the Administration as we move forward with our relief efforts.

In addition, Roger Dow will testify on behalf of the industry today before House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the travel and tourism industry. A copy of his testimony can be found at www.tbr.org.

In other important news, we are pleased to report that $5 million for the international destination marketing program has been included in the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill in the Senate. We will keep you up to date on progress as it is made.

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