As the legislative machinations continue in the drive to federally reauthorize Brand USA (this country's Destination Marketing Organization) a travel industry association is lobbying to effectively kill the bill.
It's no surprise that Congress is thinking nothing of increasing the inbound fee layered onto international arrivals. It's easier than the mental exercise required to do the math that international visitor spending is one of this country's greatest exports. But, we're talking $7 here.
And, that is apparently enough to cause the Airlines For America (A4A), an industry trade group whose members includes American Airlines, United, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines to oppose the reauthorization of Brand USA. Their CEO actually said, that "air travelers are already overtaxed, and we oppose taxing them for anything other than services provided by the government.”
Ummm...isn't inspiring people to fly here an important service of the government? And, hasn't Brand USA facilitated $5.2 billion in revenue for American airlines since 2013?
I'm sorry. I simply don't understand the logic here.
Do you?
It's a bit rich coming from airlines that have perfected the art of the gouge, fee and denied service. Funny how their charges are OK because they aren't called a tax.
Posted by: Bill Baker | August 06, 2019 at 13:34