Travel leaders from throughout the U.S. descended on Washington, D.C., March 21-22, 2018, to educate policymakers about the power of the travel industry as part of the annual Destination Capitol Hill program. The event combined a “legislative day” on Capitol Hill with advocacy training, guest speakers and peer-to-peer networking.
According to U.S. Travel, here’s how the trip played out:
“Neither a snowstorm nor a delayed federal government opening kept 325 travel advocates representing 45 states from their 300 meetings with Congress today. This is what we call the Power of Travel. Topics of discussion included travel infrastructure, including airport modernization and Open Skies, and reversing the decline in international inbound travel.
“Travel not only touches every single congressional district, it generates $2.3 trillion in economic output and supports 15.3 million American jobs.
“A sampling of lawmaker meetings included one-on-one’s with Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Reps. Billy Long (R-Mo.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), among others. A sampling of travel industry execs on the Hill included Wyndham Hotel Group, SFO Airport, Las Vegas CVA, Visit California, among others.”
According to U.S. Travel, the 2018 trip broke a record, featuring more than 325 travel industry advocates taking part in more than 300 Congressional meetings.
