Tourism groups rush to defend Brand USA against budget cut - travelweekly.com
The travel industry reacted swiftly to the Trump administration's proposal to slash funding for Brand USA in its 2018 budget, warning that cutting off the industry's largest marketing arm would do irreparable harm to the economy at large, particularly during a challenging time for inbound travel. "With all that's going on in the world, unilaterally disarming the marketing of the U.S. as a travel destination would be to surrender market share at the worst possible time," Roger Dow, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement. "With international visitation being the country's No. 2 export supporting 15 million American jobs, we're struggling to understand how cutting Brand USA squares with this administration's stated priorities," he added.
