(a) The Congress finds that—

(1) the tourism and recreation industries are important to the United States, not only because of the numbers of people they serve and the vast human, financial, and physical resources they employ, but because of the great benefits tourism, recreation, and related activities confer on individuals and on society as a whole;

(2) the Federal Government for many years has encouraged tourism and recreation implicitly in its statutory commitments to the shorter workyear and to the national passenger transportation system, and explicitly in a number of legislative enactments to promote tourism and support development of outdoor recreation, cultural attractions, and historic and natural heritage resources;

(3) as incomes and leisure time continue to increase, and as our economic and political systems develop more complex global relationships, tourism and recreation will become ever more important aspects of our daily lives; and

(4) the existing extensive Federal Government involvement in tourism, recreation, and other related activities needs to be better coordinated to effectively respond to the national interest in tourism and recreation and, where appropriate, to meet the needs of State and local governments and the private sector.

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(b) There is established a national tourism policy to—

(1) optimize the contributions of the tourism and recreation industries to the position of the United States with respect to international competitiveness, economic prosperity, full employment, and the balance of payments;

(2) increase United States export earnings from United States tourism and transportation services traded internationally;

(3) ensure the orderly growth and development of tourism;

(4) coordinate and encourage the development of the tourism industry in rural communities which—

(A) have been severely affected by the decline of agriculture, family farming, or the extraction or manufacturing industries, or by the closing of military bases; and

(B) have the potential necessary to support and sustain an economy based on tourism;

(5) promote increased and more effective investment in international tourism by the States, local governments, and cooperative tourism marketing programs;

(6) make the opportunity for and benefits of tourism and recreation in the United States universally accessible to residents of the United States and foreign countries and insure that present and future generations are afforded adequate tourism and recreation resources;

(7) contribute to personal growth, health, education, and intercultural appreciation of the geography, history, and ethnicity of the United States;

(8) encourage the free and welcome entry of individuals traveling to the United States, in order to enhance international understanding and goodwill, consistent with immigration laws, the laws protecting the public health, and laws governing the importation of goods into the United States;

(9) eliminate unnecessary trade barriers to the United States tourism industry operating throughout the world;

(10) encourage competition in the tourism industry and maximum consumer choice through the continued viability of the retail travel agent industry and the independent tour operator industry;

(11) promote the continued development and availability of alternative personal payment mechanisms which facilitate national and international travel;

(12) promote quality, integrity, and reliability in all tourism and tourism-related services offered to visitors to the United States;

(13) preserve the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation as a living part of community life and development, and insure future generations an opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the rich heritage of the Nation;

(14) insure the compatibility of tourism and recreation with other national interests in energy development and conservation, environmental protection, and the judicious use of natural resources;

(15) assist in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data which accurately measure the economic and social impact of tourism to and within the United States, in order to facilitate planning in the public and private sectors; and

(16) harmonize, to the maximum extent possible, all Federal activities in support of tourism and recreation with the needs of the general public and the States, territories, local governments, and the tourism and recreation industry, and to give leadership to all concerned with tourism, recreation, and national heritage preservation in the United States.