United States-Mexico Tourism Improvement Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2723 To promote bilateral tourism through cooperation between the United States and Mexico. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2021 Mr. CUELLAR (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To promote bilateral tourism through cooperation between the United States and Mexico. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Mexico 4 Tourism Improvement Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States and Mexico have bene- 8 fitted economically from a bilateral, mutually bene- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2723.IH H2723 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2723 IH ficial partnership focused on enhancing the tourism 1 industry in both countries. 2 (2) In 2016, Mexican tourism to the United 3 States peaked at 18,990,585 visitors, constituting 1 4 in 4 (24.9 percent) of all tourists that year. 5 (3) Additionally, in 2016, spending by Mexican 6 tourists in the United States totaled $17.5 billion, 7 which represented a 0.7 percent growth from 2015. 8 (4) Tourist activity to the United States from 9 Mexico has declined since 2016, which is in contrast 10 to an overall international tourism industry increase 11 in the United States. 12 (5) In 2019, international tourist arrivals to- 13 taled 79,300,000, up 3.8 percent from 76,400,000 in 14 2016. 15 (6) However, also in 2019, there was a 3.5-per- 16 cent decline in visitors to the United States from 17 Mexico compared to 2016, comprising a loss of 18 662,404 Mexican tourists. 19 (7) In addition, the total spending from Mexi- 20 can tourists has plateaued, only increasing slightly 21 from $17.5 billion in 2016 to $17.6 billion in 2019, 22 comprising an increase of $72 million, or 0.4 per- 23 cent. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2723.IH H2723 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2723 IH (8) This is a critical economic trend given that 1 annually Mexico is the biggest source of inter- 2 national visitors to the United States after Canada. 3 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 4 It is the policy of the United States— 5 (1) to continue deepening bilateral tourism 6 through governmental cooperation between the 7 United States and Mexico; 8 (2) to improve third-party tourism to the 9 United States and Mexico through joint inter- 10 national promotional efforts; and 11 (3) to seek to prioritize and expand the tourism 12 industries in both countries by emphasizing ex- 13 changes in various international economic sectors, 14 including relating to— 15 (A) hospitality and accommodation; 16 (B) retail; and 17 (C) cultural education. 18 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO EXPAND BILATERAL TOURISM 19 THROUGH COOPERATION WITH MEXICO. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de- 21 velop a strategy through the High Level Economic Dia- 22 logue (HLED) platform to carry out the bilateral tourism 23 policy described in section 3 and to encourage the Govern- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2723.IH H2723 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2723 IH ment of Mexico to take reciprocal action relating to bilat- 1 eral tourism. 2 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub- 3 section (a) shall— 4 (1) encourage more joint tourism initiatives be- 5 tween the United States and Mexico, including col- 6 laborations between governmental and nongovern- 7 mental entities; and 8 (2) encourage United States and Mexican non- 9 profit institutions and private businesses to assist 10 prospective and developing entrepreneurs in 11 strengthening their business skills in the United 12 States and Mexico. 13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 14 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 15 submit to Congress a report on the strategy required 16 under subsection (a). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2723.IH H2723 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS