AMERICA THE EXCEPTIONAL - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 263

and told the committee: “One of the legacies I want to see coming out of 2016 is a remind-
er that America, at its best, is open to the world.”
To everyone's surprise, Chicago was the first city cut from the list. Rio de Janeiro won
over Madrid and Tokyo. For the first time, a South American country would host an
Olympics. The president saw how, with the border and visa changes following 9/11, the
United States had effectively eliminated itself from winning bids for international events
like the Olympics. The world's fears about the United States border policies became pub-
lic during Brazil's successful bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
President Obama had learned firsthand the effect of years of foreigners feeling humi-
liated at the hands of border inspectors that had made travel to the United States so un-
bearable for many. And he had failed his hometown in his first months as president. The
industry saw an opening. “When IOC members are commenting to our President that for-
eign visitors find traveling to the United States a 'pretty harrowing experience,' we need to
take seriously the challenge of reforming our entry process to ensure there is a welcome
mat to our friends around the world, even as we ensure a secure system,” said Roger Dow,
the president of the U.S. Travel Association.
A few months later the president and the Democratic Congress came through for the
industry. First, Congress passed the Travel Promotion Act in early 2010. Democrats were
in control of the House and the Senate. Nevada's Harry Reid, the Senate majority lead-
er, was tireless in promoting the legislation that his state, especially Las Vegas, saw as the
foundation for its future. President Obama signed the bill in March 2010, stressing the
importance of travel and its potential to help lift the country out of the recession. At the
White House ceremony, Obama praised the members of Congress and industry leaders
for “working on this for a very long time.”
“Obviously we all believe America is the best place to travel,” he said. “Our ability to
highlight the incredible bounty of this country, the spectacular sights and scenery and
people is something we should all be encouraging. With this bill we will.”
The president was beginning to see travel in a different light. The new bill reversed
over fifteen years of the federal government's refusal to play a role promoting the industry
as nearly every other country does. Travel and tourism was winning back the political sup-
port it briefly enjoyed at the White House Conference in 1995.
The new act created a national website where foreigners could learn about tourist pos-
sibilities in the United States—state parks, music festivals, and beach holidays—and how
to plan their trips, all in their own language. (To begin with, the site will be translated
into French, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese.) The country that literally invented the
Internet and modern computing finally had a barebones national travel website a decade
behind the rest of the world, but at least the United States was back in the game.
This new tourism website is underwritten by a new fee charged foreign tourists, not the
American taxpayer. It took two years, but in May 2012, the Discover America website was