With tourism one of the most vital industries in the state of Florida, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor spoke on the House floor today in support of a bill designed to encourage visitors from other countries to travel to the United States, a move that has the potential to create thousands of jobs in our nation. Castor, who has been a strong advocate of travel and tourism, was selected to lead efforts on the House floor to pass the bill.

“Tourism is particularly important to my home state of Florida,” said Castor, a co-sponsor of the bill. “People come from every nation to visit our attractions – commercial, cultural and natural. From Busch Gardens to Disney World, and Universal Studios to the Everglades and more, the Florida economy thrives.”

“Having the beaches and attractions is not enough, however,” Castor continued. “Florida also invests heavily in communicating with the world and letting people know what a great time they can have in our state, through the Visit Florida tourism Web site, and outreach and advertising campaigns. But there is no similar program for promoting the United States as a whole internationally. So the USA needs to get creative and create new jobs by promoting tourism.”

Castor emphasized the job creation benefits of the legislation. The U.S. Travel Association has said the Travel Promotion Act could create approximately 40,000 jobs in the United States.

“We need the Travel Promotion Act now more than ever during this economic downturn,” Castor said. “This is a jobs bill.”

The travel promotion bill, which is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, creates a nonprofit corporation to actively promote the United States to tourists from other countries.

According to Visit Florida, approximately 8.1 million visitors came to Florida last year from Canadian and overseas markets. The tourism industry has a $57 billion impact on Florida’s economy.