Industry
Corporation for Travel Promotion Appoints CEO
Former Best Western CEO Jim Evans will lead the United States’ first national travel and tourism marketing organization
By Leo Jakobson
May 17, 2011
The
Corporation for Travel Promotion, the United States' first official leisure and business tourism marketing agency, named former Best Western International leader Jim Evans as its first CEO today.
The announcement marks the beginning of business for the Corporation, created by federal legislation enacted last year. The nonprofit Corporation is a public/private entity. It will have a budget of up to $200 million, funded equally by a fee levied every two years on travelers who come from countries that do not require visas to enter the United States, and by travel and tourism industry donations. The 11 board members are from the private sector but were appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
“I congratulate Jim on his appointment as the first CEO of the newly created Corporation for Travel Promotion,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. “Promoting tourism is an important part of the President’s National Export Initiative and the overall U.S. economy, and we are fortunate to have Jim's leadership in growing this industry. I look forward to working with him to bring more visitors to our country.”
Evans has also been CEO of weight loss company Jenny Craig and senior vice president of marketing for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. Most recently, he was CEO of Ardent Hotel Advisors, a resort and hotel management company.
“Attracting more international travelers to the U.S. will benefit the industry and our country by creating jobs, growing exports, and spurring economic growth,” said Evans. “I am proud and excited to serve the travel industry—and our country—in carrying out this important mission.”
Evans’ appointment comes on the first day of the Global Travel and Tourism Summit in Las Vegas. The World Travel and Tourism Council, which runs the show, joined with the U.S. Travel Association yesterday in
announcing an industry campaign —modeled along the lines of the campaign that led to the creation of the Corporation for Travel Promotion—to convince Congress and the Obama administration to overhaul the notoriously difficult U.S. visa system.
U.S. Travel President & CEO Roger Dow yesterday described the visa system as a bottleneck that discourages both business and leisure travelers. Pointing to a boom in international travel from 2000 2010, Dow said if the United States had kept pace with the rest of the world, it would have attracted another 78 million visitors in that time, bringing $600 billion into the U. S. economy and creating 470,000 jobs.
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