First, the good news. The travel industry scored a major victory on Capitol Hill when the House passed the Travel Promotion Act by a voice vote.
It's the industry's biggest legislative victory in Washington in a decade.
The bad news is that it happened at a time when Congress was preoccupied with the nation's biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. At this writing, it was not clear whether there will be time for the House and Senate to reconcile two versions of the bill.
No matter what happens next, the Travel Industry Association and related groups, including the Travel Business Roundtable and the Discover America Partnership, deserve an ovation for getting the bill this far.
So do the bill's sponsors.
As we have said before, we have misgivings about the mechanism that would be used to fund the travel promotion program: assessing a $10 fee on visitors from Visa Waiver countries who are expected to use the new Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
We also have serious doubts about how smoothly the government can implement the ESTA program.
Even the TIA has acknowledged that ESTA, which would require visitors to transmit passport and itinerary information to U.S. authorities in advance of their trips, could be a deterrent to travel if it is not properly communicated to the international travel community.
But there's enough to like in this bill to outweigh these concerns.
The short explanation of the Travel Promotion Act is that it would set up a corporation to promote travel to the U.S. and to convey information to foreign travelers and travel companies about U.S. security procedures and entry policies.
Some conservatives in Congress can't get past the fact that the bill would get the government involved in the business of "promoting tourism." Fortunately, they're in the minority, and backers of the bill are optimistic that their objections can be overcome, if not this year, then in 2009.
Broadly speaking, the true significance of this bill is that it goes far beyond that. This legislation recognizes and seeks to maximize "the economic and diplomatic benefits of travel." Not just "tourism," but "travel."
This broad mission is evident in the composition of the 15-member board that would govern the proposed Corporation for Travel Promotion.
The bill specifies that the members be drawn from several traditional travel industry sectors, such as air transportation, hotels, car rentals and attractions.
But it also requires that members have experience and expertise in other specific areas of endeavor, including research and development, manufacturing, financial services, local government and higher education, including scholarly conferences.
This is a clear signal that the backers of this bill get it. It is a clear signal that policy makers recognize that "travel" isn't only about a weekend in Vegas or a day at a theme park. It is about trade and commerce, the flow of goods and services, employment, economic development, the advancement of science, medicine, the arts, diplomacy and -- we'll say it -- world peace.
This is what travel people have been saying for years.
What it would mean if Congress passes this bill is that lawmakers finally get it.
And that would deserve some applause.