AMERICA THE EXCEPTIONAL - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 253

tions. And she was ambassador from 2003 through 2007 when the U.S. war in Iraq was
heavily criticized by some of the more prominent member nations, including France.
One issue, though, puzzled her. When budget reviews were underway and money had
to be cut, her instructions from Washington were singular. Reduce or eliminate the money
for tourism research.
Tourism was the last issue Ambassador Morella considered a flash point on the diplo-
matic agenda. But the other member nations put a high premium on their tourism indus-
tries; not only as critical for their economies but requiring precise coordination and regu-
lation by their governments, which in turn meant serious up-to-date research.
The United States not only disagreed with that position but actively tried to undermine
it. She told me that every time the OECD budget came up for a vote, her instructions
from Washington were: take money out of the tourism research account. The instructions
were routine as clockwork, she told me.
“The United States consistently puts tourism as a low priority but the other countries
would never allow those budget cuts. Tourism was too important to them,” said Ambassad-
or Morella. “That is one of the few positions I didn't understand. Tourism is so important,
especially in the nation's capital. Why wouldn't we support it?”
The answer to that question stretches back to the federal system, which divided the role
of government between the states and the central government. When Americans started
traveling for leisure in the early twentieth century, they mostly visited other parts of their
continent-size country. The individual states took charge of promoting and then regulat-
ing tourism. After World War II, as tourism flourished, Florida advertised itself as the “Sun-
shine State.” Virginia named itself the state for lovers. And New York State used the song
“I Love New York” to appeal to tourists. That Chamber of Commerce approach worked in
the early years, and tourism became a serious industry in nearly every state and the District
of Columbia. The industry was divided about the desirability of more centralized federal
coordination; many were happy to leave responsibility at the state level.
In 1961 the federal government created the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration
within the Department of Commerce, to mixed reviews. Republicans, and some Demo-
crats, wondered why tourism should be promoted at all. Despite a big cut in its budget in
1977, the tourism administration reached a modus vivendi with Congress and established
its presence to promote U.S. tourism overseas through its own offices and in coordination
with U.S. embassies abroad.
The partisan showdown began in 1995 when the Republicans became the new majority
in the House of Representatives and selected Newt Gingrich as their Speaker of the
House. Gingrich issued a “Contract with America” during his election campaign that
promised to reduce government spending and reduce the size of government itself. As the
new Speaker, he picked many targets; he saw government's role in tourism as a candid-