U.S. Senate Passes Travel Promotion Act

The U.S. Senate has passed the Travel Promotion Act (TPA), sending the bill to to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature.

"This vote is significant, for it is the final legislative hurdle to pass before this bill is sent to President Obama for his signature," said AH&LA President and CEO Joseph McInerney. "Achieving this victory was the result of years of hard work by many individuals in the travel industry and Congress. I want to personally thank Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who early on recognized the importance of this bill to the U.S. travel industry. He understood what we have been saying all along about the Travel Promotion Act, its ability to create jobs, and the economic stimulus thousands of American lodging and tourism-related businesses will receive from it. AH&LA was proud to help lobby for the passage of this bill over the last three years, for it will deliver benefits to our members for years to come."

In addition to Majority Leader Reid, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) also championed the bill.

The Senate passed this bill during a late evening 78-18 vote, coming a little less than four months after the House passed its updated version of the bill on November 6, 2009. After an earlier 79-19 Senate vote last September, the bill encountered a parliamentary hurdle that caused the legislation to face a second series of House and Senate votes.

President Obama has indicated he will sign the bill. He was a co-sponsor of the legislation in the 110th Congress and supports the efforts of the travel industry to create new jobs to support his Administration's stated mission of economic recovery this year.

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