15 U.S.C. § 9803 — Responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism

(a) Visitation goals. The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, called the “Assistant Secretary” here, must: (1) after consulting the travel and tourism industry, work with the Travel Promotion Committee and the United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board to set annual goals, consistent with section 9804(1), for (A) international visitors and (B) travel and tourism commerce; (2) recommend ways to reach those goals; (3) ensure travel and tourism policy is developed with consultation from (A) the Tourism Policy Council, (B) the Secretary of State, (C) the Secretary of Homeland Security, (D) the Corporation for Travel Promotion, (E) the Advisory Board, and (F) industry representatives, including public and private destination marketers, suppliers, gig-economy representatives, and industry labor representatives; (4) set short-, medium-, and long-term timelines for the recommendations; (5) consult with the Office of Management and Budget and other relevant agencies to assess the resources, legal or regulatory changes, and private-sector involvement needed for the annual goals; and (6) give assessments and recommendations to (A) the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, (B) the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and (C) the public through a public website.

(b) Domestic travel and tourism. As far as feasible, the Assistant Secretary must: (1) continually evaluate domestic policy options supporting the domestic travel industry’s competitiveness, strengths, weaknesses, and growth; (2) develop recommendations and business- and leisure-specific goals to support and improve domestic tourism; and (3) involve public and private stakeholders in supporting domestic tourism.

(c) Workforce. The Assistant Secretary must: (1) consult with the Secretary of Labor on strategies and best practices for making travel and tourism workforce data more timely and reliable; (2) work with the Secretary of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to improve industry data; (3) recommend policy improvements and efficiencies; and (4) recommend policies about the gig economy as it relates to travel and tourism.

(d) International business travel. With relevant federal agencies, the Assistant Secretary must try to increase and facilitate international business travel to the United States and preserve competitiveness by: (1) facilitating large meetings, incentive trips, conferences, and exhibitions; (2) highlighting rural and other culturally or ecologically rich and uniquely American destinations for those events; and (3) facilitating United States sports and recreation events and activities.

(e) Recovery strategies. (1) Within 1 year after the Department of Commerce receives money for this section’s purposes, the Assistant Secretary, consulting the entities in subsection (a)(3), must develop recovery strategies for the industry in response to COVID-19’s economic effects and in anticipation of other unpredictable catastrophic events that could significantly affect it, including hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, wildfires, terrorist attacks, and pandemics. (2) In developing them, the Assistant Secretary must conduct cost-benefit analyses considering the health and economic effects of public-health mitigation measures on the industry.

(f) Reporting. (1) Subject to available appropriations, the Assistant Secretary must produce an annual industry forecast covering current and expected (A) domestic employment needs, (B) international inbound volume and spending, considering lasting COVID-19 public-health-emergency effects and the subsection (e)(1) recovery strategy, and (C) domestic volume and spending, including federal and state public-land data. (2) Subject to available appropriations and as far as feasible, the Bureau of Economic Analysis Director should update the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts quarterly with (A) state-level spending data, (B) full- and part-time workforce data, and (C) outdoor recreation and tourism spending data for federal and state public lands. (3) The National Travel and Tourism Office Director, with the Bureau and other agencies, must monthly report international arrival and spending data to (A) the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and (B) the public on a public website, and must include applicable Survey of International Air Travelers questions about wait times, public-land visits, and state data.