Good Reads: International Visitation, Okefenokee Swamp and the Great American Road Trip
Congress is back in DC this week. The Senate is focused on completing its work on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. President Trump has set a deadline of July 4 to get the bill to his desk for signature. That may be an ambitious schedule. Once the Senate, approves the bill, it has to go back to the House for approval. I am tracking the bill as it does include provisions that impact tourism communities, such as cutting Brand USA funding by 80% and slashes NPS staff.
In the interim, I am sending along some Good Reads on issues important to tourism communities:
International Visitation
At IPW, US Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman noted “The total direct spending value of the travel industry in the United States is $1.3 trillion every year, and almost $200 billion of that comes from international visitors,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “Yet over the last decade, America has lost ground in the global travel market,” US Travel Association is focused on boosting international visitors to the United States in the coming three years. Travel Pulse has round up of the remarks.
In that same speech Freeman reported that international visitation shows some weakness but overall is “fine” with the exception of Canada. He sees that weakness as lost opportunity and that driving inbound tourism should be a priority for the country. Travel Weekly reported on the speech and U.S. Travel’s policy priorities.
Canadian Visitation
CNN reported on the efforts of states along the Northern border to woo Canadian visitors with cross-border travel specials. I also like this piece because it details the economic ripple effect of visitor spending on small businesses. The article can be read here.
Okefenokee Swamp
On Friday, news broke that a Land deal ends controversial mining fight near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. The Conservation Fund, which has been a champion of tourism and gateway communities has agreed to pay $60 million to acquire roughly 7,800 acres in rural Georgia from Twin Pines Minerals, which wanted to mine titanium on the site. This is a huge win for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, which is set to be nominated this year by the National Park Service for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was delighted to see that this was national news and received coverage in The Washington Post as it is truly a national treasure.
The Great American Road Trip
Yesterday’s NY Times has a profile of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that includes details on the raid trip he plans to take with his family — he has 9 kids to promote America’s 250 birthday and automobile manufacturing. The road trip is being taken as part of a collaboration with America250 and Brand USA, which has produced a map with 250 sites to visit in 2026.
Here’s a link to the press release announcing the Great American Road Trip.
The Great American Road Trip map can be found here.
As a Michigander I do feel obligated to note that the great American Road Trip was created by Henry Ford, who for 13 years took summer road trips with Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and writer William Burroughs. The trips drew intense public attention as The Vagabonds, as they like to call themselves visited places like Great Smoky Mountains and the Everglades before they became national parks. If you don’t make Secretary Duffy’s itinerary, you may be able to garner some attention by highlighting sites on the original road trips.
Agritourism
Today’s Washington Post Food section encouraged readers to Take an East Coast food road trip with this state-inspired recipes that I thought might provide some summer road inspiration.