STATEMENT SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
BY
THE TRAVEL BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE
AND
THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

TO THE

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HEARING ON
AN AROUND-THE-WORLD REVIEW OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2005

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INTRODUCTION

The Travel Business Roundtable (TBR) and the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) would like to thank Chairman Hyde and Ranking Member Lantos for convening this important hearing to explore America’s public diplomacy policy and its important role in shaping today’s international society.

Our nation’s image is steadily deteriorating both in the Muslim world and in ally nations. The U.S. travel and tourism industry recognizes the need for a comprehensive public diplomacy strategy to reverse the negative perceptions of the United States in order to combat the spread of terrorism and foster good will around the world. We applaud President Bush’s appointment of Karen Hughes to the post of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. In her confirmation hearing in July, Ms. Hughes specifically noted that she plans to work closely with the travel and tourism industry as part of her public diplomacy strategy. Through this statement, we seek to clearly define our role in this crucial debate.

DECLINING PERCEPTIONS OF AMERICA

The steady increase in anti-American sentiment across the world has given rise to a challenge for 21st century America. Not only does this worldwide crisis challenge our national and economic security, but it also diminishes the demand for U.S. goods and services around the globe.

We must accept as a given that the world’s view of America has changed, and not for the better, over the past 20 years. This is a reflection of resentment toward globalization and the pervasiveness of U.S. cultural, political, economic and military hegemony, as well as U.S. foreign policy. Our nation’s public diplomacy strategy must target a wide, growing and increasingly hostile audience.

Recent studies show that even in countries that are part of the “Coalition of the Willing” with troops on the ground in Iraq, the U.S is losing favor rapidly. In March 2005, the Lowy Institute conducted the most comprehensive national survey ever in Australia. Australians were asked to identify the most highly esteemed countries in the world. Japan, a nation at war with Australia just 60 years ago, ranked first; China came in second; and the U.S. trailed significantly behind. Australians were then asked to name the greatest threats to world peace. The overwhelming majority of Australians ranked both Islamic fundamentalism and the United States of America as the two greatest threats. In March 2004, the Pew Research Center reported that the percentage of British citizens having a favorable view of the United States fell from 75 percent in the summer of 2002 to just 58 percent in March 2004.

American success in a global economy has always been contingent upon a fair, honest and cooperative national image. A poll of 8,000 consumers in eight nations conducted last December by Global Market Insite, Inc. (GMI) showed that 61 percent of French consumers and 58 percent of German consumers opposed U.S. brands. Progress toward alliances based on mutual respect cannot prosper under these conditions.

America’s economy has created some of the most powerful and appealing brands in the world. For many years, these American brands have symbolized freedom, creativity and capitalistic opportunity at its best. The attributes foreign consumers are now associating with these American brands are far less flattering. When the tagline “Made in America” is viewed not with respect but rather with bitterness and even aversion, a significant problem is brewing.

HOW AMERICA’S IMAGE AFFECTS TRAVEL AND TOURISM

More than ever before, the travel and tourism industry is suffering as a result of these negative perceptions. U.S. visa and passport policies, hassles at U.S. ports-of-entry and rising tensions about immigration reform discourage travelers from coming here. The perception develops that a virtual fortress is being erected at our borders. From the moment an international traveler applies for his visa until he is standing in the US-VISIT line at JFK Airport, it is important to remember that America’s image is at stake. International arrivals to the U.S. have yet to reach pre-9/11 levels and are not expected to do so until 2006. Those who previously came to America seeking medical procedures and educational advancement are now searching elsewhere for such services.

Recent Pew research shows that Canadians – those who have the most contact with Americans – are harboring increasingly negative views of both the U.S. and the American people. The favorability ratings of Americans around the world have declined, and those surveyed internationally are more likely to refer to Americans and “greedy” and “violent.”

Implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which will require travelers from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Central and South America to present passports or other accepted travel documents at our borders, can only aggravate the matter. The perceived hassle and additional cost to travel to the U.S. can only serve to discourage our closest neighbors from traveling across our borders.

In addition, the impact of the recent hurricanes that ravaged the United States Gulf Coast, thus debilitating the region’s travel and tourism industry, also had a direct and immediate global impact on our nation’s public diplomacy efforts. Polling in locations around the globe is increasingly showing that negative perceptions have been reinforced by the focus of the world’s press on the scenes of lawlessness and despair in the affected region. To a wary world, these images exacerbate fears about the safety of travel to America.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Echo Research Inc. conducted a study of media coverage in key international markets (Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). The research showed that 84.2 percent of all editorial, opinion or commentary articles in these nations portrayed negative views of the U.S. in its effectiveness of leadership, sensitivity to the needs of the lower class, government accountability, workability of the American business model, and other measures.

While international travel to the U.S. is on the rise, having increased by 12 percent from 2003 to 2004, America is still lagging far behind pre-9/11 numbers. In 2000, 50.9 million international visitors came to the United States, but only 46.1 million came in 2004. In addition, during a time when the weakness of the dollar has made the U.S. one of the world’s greatest travel bargains, the U.S. Department of Commerce projects that 2006 will be the earliest possible date for international visitation to reach pre-9/11 numbers.

Worldwide international travel increased at a rate of 52 percent between 1992 and 2004, but America’s share of that lucrative travel market declined by 36 percent. America, formerly the most visited travel destination in the world, is now third behind France and Spain and still declining. According to an August 2005 GMI survey, the United States ranked dead last among 25 nations in the appeal of its culture and heritage. The U.S. is clearly losing its ability to inspire and positively influence other nations of the world.

HOW TRAVEL AND TOURISM AFFECTS AMERICA’S IMAGE

Through cooperation from all levels of government, the American homeland has become safer. However, security at our nation’s physical ports-of-entry is not the only way to protect America and its citizens. Studies have demonstrated that when international visitors travel to the U.S., negative images fade and admiration for our nation and its people emerges. When foreigners come to America, they experience American culture and hospitality first hand, and almost without exception, their view of America and our people changes for the better.

Research conducted in six of the top travel markets to the U.S., including Japan, Germany, France and Brazil, established that while 38 percent of those who had never visited the U.S. had a positive image of America, 54 percent of those who had visited viewed America positively. Likewise, only 61 percent of those who had not visited the U.S. had a positive view of the American people compared to 72 percent of those who had visited. Obviously, travel is more than an economic generator. International visitors are more than a source of revenue. They have irreplaceable diplomatic value when they come in contact with Americans, reporting back to friends and relatives at home about their positive experiences here.

In 2004, the U.S. travel and tourism industry generated $599.2 billion in domestic and international travel expenditures. The industry directly provided 7.3 million jobs, producing more than $163.3 billion in payroll. Further, it created a trade surplus of $5.8 billion. Travel and tourism is the first, second or third largest industry in 29 states and the District of Columbia. The industry is in 50 states, 435 Congressional districts and every city in the United States.

Even the smallest increase in international travel to the U.S. would have a huge impact on the U.S. economy. A mere 1 percentage point increase in worldwide market share would mean an additional $12.3 billion in spending across the U.S.; 150,000 more jobs; $3.3 billion in new payroll; new federal, state and local tax revenues of $2.1 billion; and 7.6 million more visitors spending time on American soil.

The numbers speak for themselves. And when you combine the economic power of the industry with travel and tourism’s unique ability to change perceptions and opinions, why is the U.S. not doing more to encourage international visitors to come here?

Last winter, the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries at the U.S. Department of Commerce, in consultation with the U.S. Travel and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board, launched an advertising and marketing campaign promoting the U.S. in the United Kingdom. The U.S. spent a mere $6 million, compared to the hundreds of millions spent annually by its worldwide competitors (i.e. Australia – $93 million; Turkey – $62 million; and Fiji – $10 million). Before the 2004 campaign, the U.S. was virtually silent in marketing the U.S. as a destination around the world.

While increasing the visibility of the U.S. abroad is an important factor in encouraging travel, simply augmenting international marketing budgets is not the answer. We have many more obstacles that must be addressed. As previously stated, reports of stringent visa and passport policies and less than welcoming experiences during the inspection process at U.S. ports-of-entry discourage travelers from coming here. In the near future, we face the risk that more foreign leaders will make decisions concerning America in the absence of personal experience and interaction with America and its people.

The travel and tourism industry is willing and able to partner with the Departments of State and Homeland Security to improve the visa application process and the arrivals experience without compromising security. Industry leaders are eager to work in cooperation with both agencies to revise our current outdated visa categories, to improve the culture of consular services, to assist in training our ambassadorial and career Foreign Service officers, and to improve the experience for arriving international travelers at ports-of-entry, among other ideas. We are an industry that understands the need to find the delicate balance between securing our nation’s borders and facilitating the free flow of commerce. We are confident that both can be achieved, and when they are, negative perceptions will fade.

COOPERATION WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR

American products, too, play an important role in promoting the American brand. The way in which America markets its products and depicts certain values is essential to the commercial success of the United States. Rising international hostility toward America and its policies will have a direct impact on the ability of the United States to compete in a global marketplace. Countless commissions and reports on public diplomacy cite the need to engage the private sector, whose role in public diplomacy efforts, now more than ever, is critical to our broader economic and national security.

By partnering with groups such as Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), a taskforce led by some of the world’s pre-eminent communications, marketing, media and political science professionals, and the only private sector led public diplomacy effort of its kind, the private sector can help engage and empower the business community and Americans themselves in strategic long-term public diplomacy actions and initiatives.

CONCLUSION

Under Secretary Hughes has stated that public diplomacy is not primarily about “spin,” but more about accurately communicating American values and rebutting misinformation; helping international audiences learn about our people, institutions and policies; and taking actions that improve our image in the world.

Travel and tourism accomplishes just that by encouraging interaction among diverse peoples, which creates a process of engagement and development of long-term relationships, thus combating misinformation, debunking stereotypes, conveying values and ideals, and providing foreigners with an opportunity to be seen and heard by Americans. Encouraging travel to the United States is an important piece of the public diplomacy puzzle. Travel is the most cost efficient and powerful messenger of American civility, and international travelers are our best goodwill ambassadors. Working together with the private sector and federal agencies, we can begin to effectively address America’s deteriorating image abroad.

Left unaddressed, these worsening worldwide images portend ominous consequences: a generation of future world leaders with no personal exposure to America or its people; a growing international determination to avoid travel to America and the purchase of its goods and services; and even more fundamentally, a blow to our stature as a worldwide leader and as a force for good. The travel and tourism industry is uniquely positioned to be a critical messenger in helping restore America’s image around the world. Its leaders stand ready to be partners in developing this public diplomacy strategy.

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