Tourism officials urge changes to lure more visitors to U.S.
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
Agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration will be ordered to put on their happy faces as part of a bid to make the United States a friendlier place to visit.
Sen. Harry Reid and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar were in Las Vegas for a Wednesday morning tourism roundtable meeting with industry leaders to explain some of the initiatives of Brand USA and to get suggestions on how the nation could do a better job of welcoming foreign tourists to the country.
Reid was one of the key proponents of the Travel Promotion Act that led to the formation of Brand USA, a corporation formed from a public-private partnership that will market the United States abroad.
Stephen Cloobeck, chairman of Brand USA and CEO of Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts International, also attended the roundtable and said some of the advertising messages would be unveiled April 22 during the U.S. Travel Association’s International Pow Wow in Los Angeles.
About 40 industry and political leaders were invited to the roundtable, which was closed to the public.