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Tourism can help reshape image of U.S.

July 4, 2005 /

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Bear Paw Development Corporation is a private non-profit organization created for the purpose of administering programs to help improve regional economic conditions in Hill, Blaine, Liberty, Chouteau and Phillips Counties and the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy's Indian Reservations.

Travel is powerful.

It can help fuel economies like Arizona’s, and it can help the country improve its shaky image in foreign lands.

Those are the key points that Roger Dow, the new president and chief executive officer of the Travel Industry Association of America, plans to make at this week’s Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Phoenix.

While travel within the United States has been rebounding since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. share of international travel has been slipping.

Dow thinks some of this is a result of the war on terrorism and new security measures that make traveling to the United States more difficult for many tourists.

Making travel to the United States more attractive can help the country’s image long term, he believes. When people visit a country, they feel better about it, and those feelings improve until by the time they make a third visit, they are virtual ambassadors for that country, Dow said.

John Stearns
The Arizona Republic

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0704tourism04.html