STOWE — Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is leading an effort to reauthorize a program that promotes Vermont as a tourism destination abroad.
Welch’s legislation would reauthorize Brand USA, a federal initiative that aims to attract international tourists to Vermont and other states. The program was first enacted in 2015, and now Welch is looking for another round of funding.
At a meeting with Vermont tourism industry leaders at the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival Friday, Welch said renewing the program could make the country seem more welcoming to foreign tourists. The Democratic congressman said he’s concerned that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and trade is dissuading international visitors from traveling to the United States.
“When we’ve got this incredibly controversial issue like immigration, and the rhetoric around that creates, in my view, a very unwelcoming atmosphere for people.” Welch said. “Brand USA, right now, given those issues as a backdrop, is more important than ever.”
The main purpose of Brand USA is to create promotional material targeted to international audiences about the tourism industries in states across the country. In Vermont, the program invites journalists from other countries to write about the state’s destinations, said Heather Pelham, deputy commissioner of the Department of Tourism and Marketing.
Brand USA recently coordinated a visit with United Kingdom celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, who filmed a food network special in Vermont in an attempt to drive international tourism.
Under Welch’s legislation, which he co-authored with Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Brand USA would be reauthorized through the Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act until 2027, which has a budget of $100 million each year. The program is funded through a fee on international visitors, which is currently $10. Under the reauthorization it would be raised to $17.
Brand USA is credited with bringing more than 1.13 million foreign tourists and an estimated $8.9 billion economic impact to the U.S. in 2018, according to Welch’s office.
Erik Hansen, vice president of government relations for the U.S. Travel Association, said that when Trump was feuding with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June over trade negotiations, his organization documented a dip in Canadian tourism into Vermont. Afterward, he said, Brand USA deployed advertisements to try to mend this perception.
“We were able to show that we’re more than just what people see on TV,” Hansen said.
Xusana Davis, Vermont’s first and newly appointed executive director of racial equity, broadened the responsibility of welcoming foreigners to Vermonters themselves. During her move to Vermont when she was looking for housing, she said she didn’t walk inside one home because a neighbor was staring her down, seated underneath a Confederate flag.
“What are we doing,” Davis said, “so that on the ground, people we’re trying to attract feel like they belong here, whether it’s temporarily or permanently?”
