Amy Klobuchar

One out of eight jobs in America is related to tourism and travel.

I hope my colleagues will join me in promoting tourism and business travel, particularly as a means to stimulate our sluggish economy.

I think that is a good way to end.

We need to get business travel going again.

I think it is very important for people to know that smaller resorts and areas that aren't in the top four tourist destinations have also seen a decrease.

So without these trade shows, it would be very hard for smaller businesses to make their sales.

Those are the biggest dollars. And those are not the jobs we want to eliminate as a country.

Your interest is strong validation that travel and tourism is vital to our country and its prosperity.

As you and your colleagues consider policies and legislation, such as the Travel Promotion Act, we encourage you to remember that travel is good for America.

I would particularly like to thank Senator Klobuchar for your leadership in calling this hearing and your passionate support of the travel industry both in our home state of Minnesota and in the national arena.

So an argument could be made that if we had this kind of national promotion, it would actually be of great benefit to some of the what you call second-tier tourism?

This isn't a free ride for the industry. We will be contributing our fair share to make it work.

Words do matter, especially when they come from our leaders in Washington.

Chairwoman Klobuchar, I would like to commend you for taking the time to hear from our industry.

The biggest chunk of the tourism business is the small business community--the mom and pop operators.

We need to be seeking out our share of international tourism to say to people around the world, 'Come here.'

I hope that this is the year to do it.

I think that was the message that was trying to be sent there, that there is a lot of beautiful places to visit.

The international travel issue, we are talking about this Travel Promotion Act, and I know in our State of Minnesota, we actually have international travelers come in to see the Mall of America, and then they go to some of our other places.

The Travel Promotion Act will provide a funding vehicle that is not at the expense of the taxpayers.

We need to tell the world about the improvements we have made to the entry process.

We could learn a lot from Walt Disney.

It is a longer view that you have to take.

I am a cosponsor of the Travel Promotion Act, a measure re-introduced this week by Senator Dorgan.

We are clearly losing part of this international market share, some because of the economy, but some because other countries have been promoting their countries for tourism.