Summer Travel Agenda 2005: Include America
"We are the only Western industrialized nation that doesn't have a national funding source for tourism promotion."
Edward Fluhr, Manager of Legislative Affairs, Travel Industry of America (source: Travel Professional, February/March 2005, p 37)
"We have a mixed image now, but people really do love American people and our culture. We should highlight this. We should portray ourselves as a kind country, not just an aggressive one. America needs to reach out and let people know who we really are. If not, we're going to lose the knowledge and respect of people."
Rep Sam Farr (D-California) Co-Leader, Congressional Travel & Tourism Caucus (source: Travel Professional, February/March 2005, p 43)
Wherever I travel in the world the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is known and respected. In my opinion, this American export - part of a larger tradition of public debate leading to social consensus on issues of justice - is one of our finest. It is an honor when a foreign host makes reference to the ADA as they educate me on their own country. Those interactions reinforce my belief in the power of example.
Travel changes people.
Mobility International USA (MIUSA) specializes in facilitating overseas study for students with disabilities. One of their resources, A World Awaits You, collects stories of those changes. Travel has the power to transform nations - one tourist at a time.
Places can teach.
Recently, I reviewed a biographical manuscript by Lisa (Kuo-yu) Wang, currently associate professor at National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan but formerly a pioneer who established disability services in Taiwan's government. She recounted the transformative impact that a single visit to Japan had on her. Seeing Universal Design made real in the built environment for the first time and experiencing the respect that it modeled gave her the self-confidence to emerge as a leader. Good design can - and does - structure democratizing influences into the environment itself.
Home can be an international gateway too.
Speaking to the 1995 White House Conference on Travel & Tourism, radio personality, Garrison Keillor, explained, "We need to think about cultural tourism because really there is no other kind of tourism. It's what tourism is...people don't come to America for our airports. People don't come to America for our hotels, or the recreation facilities. They come for our culture: high culture, low culture, middle culture, right, left, real or imagined -- they come here to see America."
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