PORTLAND – Oregon is just one part of a new national tourism campaign to lure more international travel to the U.S.
When it comes to natural beauty, Oregon is hard to match.
By Joe Smith, KGW.com - http://www.kgw.com/home/Oregon-a-part-of-intl-tourism-push-151642015.html
Travel Oregon’s CEO, Todd Davidson was chosen to chair President Obama’s National Travel and Tourism Strategy.
The first step is to make it easier for international visitors to come to the United States by expanding the visa waiver program, enhance visa processing in general and expedite screening of travelers.
The $200 million-effort is a joint project with the nation’s travel industry and the U.S. government. TV commercials are now running in the UK, Canada and Japan. Later, the commercials will air in Brazil and South Korea.
“Within ten years we will go from 60 million international visitors coming to the United States to having 100 million coming to the United States, generating an economic return of $250 billion, a quarter of $1 trillion annually,” said Davidson.
The “Brand USA” campaign also means a benefit for Oregon tourism which is now an $8.9 billion industry, supporting nearly 92,000 jobs.
Unlike other states that have cut back on promoting tourism, Oregon can capitalize off the international campaign to drive more visitors at theDiscover America website.
