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The U.S. Travel Association reports that 10 of the nation's largest hotel companies are urging members of Congress to consider the value of business travel for meetings, events and performance incentive programs before enacting legislation and regulations that may unintentionally hinder economic recovery and cost American jobs.
"Members
of Congress and all Americans should demand accountability from
companies receiving taxpayer dollars -- what we need are rules, not
rhetoric," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel
Association. "That's why U.S. Travel Association and our partners have
created model guidelines for corporate boards to adopt when determining
if a meeting or event has legitimate business return on investment."
According to new ads, which are running on The Politico's website, politico.com and Roll Call's Web site, rollcall.com,
"The Department of Labor is reporting a loss of nearly 200,000
travel-related jobs in 2008 and Commerce Department data predicts a
lost of an additional 247,000 travel-related jobs in 2009. That number
may grow if the rhetoric is not toned down."
To ensure that
federal taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly, the travel
community earlier this month released model travel guidelines for
boards of directors of companies receiving emergency government funds.
These are available at www.ustravel.org.
The
companies sponsoring the ad are: Carlson, Walt Disney Parks and
Resorts, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental
Hotels Group, Loews, Marriott, Starwood and Wyndham Worldwide.
The
U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization
representing all components of the $740 billion travel industry. U.S.
Travel's mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and
within the United States. For more information, visit www.ustravel.org