
Brand USA applauds President Obama's announcement of the creation of a national travel and tourism strategy aimed at growing the U.S. economy through increased international travel to the United States.
The announcement in Orlando demonstrates the administration's commitment to strengthening America's competitiveness in the growing global travel marketplace by improving travel facilitation for international visitors and improving visa processing times in important growth markets including China and Brazil. The President's plan includes the following:
- Increasing efforts to expand the Visa Waiver Program and travel by nationals eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program, including through nomination of Taiwan to the program.
- Increasing non-immigrant visa processing capacity in Brazil and China by 40% in 2012.
- Creating an interagency government task force to work with Brand USA to promote travel and tourism opportunities in the U.S. to create jobs.

