President Trump's controversial budget proposal is being handed over to Congress Tuesday.
The president's plan calls for the elimination of the nation's federally-funded destination marketing organization known as Brand USA.
Citing summary budget documents, USA Today reports the revenue would instead be used to fund Customs and Border Protection efforts. Turning the proposal into reality is up to Congress, and some politicians and prominent industry figures have already condemned the Trump administration's priorities.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D) said it makes "zero economic sense" to do away with Brand USA via USA Today, citing his state's reliance on tourism-related jobs.
"With all that's going on in the world, unilaterally disarming the marketing of the U.S. as a travel destination would be to surrender market share at the worst possible time. It's especially perplexing that the elimination of Brand USA is on the table when both Commerce Secretary Ross and OMB Director Mulvaney each have supported it previously," U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow said in a statement.
Dow went on to point out that the "creation of Brand USA was a bipartisan effort" that contributed nearly $9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016.
"Brand USA isn't funded with a dime of taxpayer money, reduced the deficit by $50 million, and by the OMB's own accounting eliminating it would put the federal budget further in the red."
"With international visitation being the country's No. 2 export supporting 15 million American jobs, we're struggling to understand how cutting Brand USA squares with this administration's stated priorities," Dow concluded.
The proposal comes at a critical time for Brand USA.
Several reports suggest that anti-travel policies and geopolitical uncertainty are hampering travel to the U.S. Just last month, Brand USA launched a new campaign titled "See How Far You Can Go" in 11 different major markets around the world.
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"We, as an organization, are focused on our overall goal, which is to welcome 100 million visitors by 2021," Brand USA CEO Chris Thompson told TravelPulse in late March.
The director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney conceded that lawmakers typically ignore the president's budget proposal but gave a shred of credence to Trump's bid.
"I want to be responsible for the taxpayers in a way that we haven't been before," Mulvaney told USA Today.
For now, however, Trump's budget proposal simply outlines where the administration's priorities are.
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