Earlier this year, at the close of the 15th WTTC Global Summit in Madrid, Phillip Jones, CEO, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sean Donohue, CEO, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, announced the prestigious Summit to be held in Dallas in April 2016. Jones and Donohue, together with Tom Klein, President & CEO, Sabre Corporation, sit on the 2016 WTTC Global Summit Host Committee.
David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC, said: “We are extremely pleased to confirm the dates for our upcoming WTTC Global Summit, which will bring together top global leaders from private sector companies within the Travel & Tourism industry to engage with key public sector leaders. Industry leaders from across the world should make sure they save these dates.
The Summit will provide the perfect opportunity for the US to showcase their immense progress in travel facilitation policies for travellers, both in their visa management and entry/exit procedures. Their pronounced growth in both international tourism receipts and visitors has continued their leading stature as the world’s largest Travel & Tourism economy. This Summit gives the Obama Administration the global platform to show how successful interagency coordination can be delivered, alongside engagement with the private sector for highly effective partnerships and collaboration.”
The WTTC Global Summit was last held in the United States in May 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Summit engaged with key members of the Cabinet of President Obama, including the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Commerce. This served as a major impetus leading to the President’s Executive Order of 2012, which established a new Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness, charged with developing a National Travel and Tourism Strategy.
WTTC research shows that in 2014 Travel & Tourism in the US produced 8% of GDP, generating a total impact of $US1.4 trillion, and supported 13.7 million jobs which is 9.3% of total employment.