WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Bill Delahunt will hold a hearing this week to hear from travel and tourism experts on the cause of America’s decline in the international tourism market.

Delahunt’s Foreign Affairs Oversight panel will convene on Tuesday March 20 at 2pm in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building. 

Testifying before the panel will be Mr. Geoff Freeman, Executive Director of the Discover America Partnership; Mr. Charles Merin, President of the Travel Business Roundtable and Mr. Peter Gadiel, President of 9/11 Families for a Secure America.

Over the past five years, leading experts have expressed growing concern over the impact of US policies on the international travel and tourism trade.  Between 1992 and 2005, the United States share of the worldwide tourism market dropped by 36%.  That decline translates into a loss of over $ 42 billion in revenue.  In Massachusetts, tourism is the third-largest industry in the state, supporting over 124,000 jobs and $3.1 billion in payroll income.  The panel is interested in examining how public opinion of the United States in foreign countries is impacting the travel and tourism industry.  

The hearing is the latest in a series convened by Delahunt’s Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee examining foreign opinion on American policies, values and people.

To view a live webcast of the hearing, please visit the committee’s website at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/ .

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