Travel and Tourism: DOT Should Improve Strategic Planning and Data Collection

Travel and tourism are vital to the U.S. economy, generating trillions in economic output and supporting millions of American jobs. In recent years, Congress has expanded DOT's responsibilities in this area, and aimed to use infrastructure investments to help the travel and tourism industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. DOT provides grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments, among other entities, to support travel and tourism. In 2021, DOT published its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024, which aims to articulate a strategic vision for DOT to make the U.S. travel and tourism industry more competitive globally. In GAO's prior work, it has identified leading practices related to key elements of agencies' strategic plans that should include: (1) agency-wide long-term goals for all major functions and operations with related short-term goals; and (2) strategies and the various resources needed to achieve the goals and objectives. In 2023, GAO reported that DOT's plan has identified some general strategies and best practices for supporting travel and tourism, but it did not establish any short- or long-term goals for supporting travel and tourism. Absent these goals in the plan, it is unclear how actions in support of these strategies and practices are to be aligned within DOT. Moreover, while the plan identifies some resources DOT could use to support travel and tourism, it does not specify how these resources will support travel and tourism in the short- or long-term. However, without short- or long-term goals for support of travel and tourism, it is unclear what DOT intends to accomplish through its efforts. Given the statutory requirement to update the plan, DOT could consult-as appropriate-with relevant congressional committees on the development of these goals as part of its regular required consultations on strategic plans and agency priority goals. Therefore, GAO recommended that the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer develop and incorporate long- and short-term goals related to travel and tourism into the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan and align these goals with the strategies and resources necessary to achieve them. As part of developing these goals, DOT should consult with applicable congressional committees, as appropriate. In May 2024, GAO confirmed that DOT had developed long- and short-term goals related to travel and tourism into the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. In April 2024, DOT published its revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, which included four long-term strategic goals, as well as performance indicators that establish short-term goals in support of the strategic goals. The plan also identifies strategies and resources that will support the achievement of the plan's goals. According to the plan, DOT used multiple sources to inform its revisions, including consultations with relevant congressional committees. By developing goals for its support of travel and tourism, DOT is better positioned to articulate its approach to supporting travel and tourism in the context of its other responsibilities and align existing strategies and resources to support its approach.

DOT provides grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments, among other entities, to support travel and tourism. In 2021, DOT published its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024.The plan emphasizes the importance of comprehensive, recent data to inform decision-making about travel and tourism support. In 2023, GAO reported that DOT and its modal administrations collect and analyze transportation data on topics including safety events-such as collisions, derailments, and evacuations-and infrastructure conditions and locations. However, DOT does not collect comprehensive data specifically on trip purpose, including tourism, to guide the implementation of its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. Further, DOT has found gaps in its collection of data on long-distance passenger travel across different transportation modes, such as demographic data and information on origins and destinations of travelers. DOT officials said that they have not collected comprehensive data specifically on travel and tourism because they have not identified what is needed to support their efforts in the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. Without additional data specifically on travel and tourism, DOT is limited in its ability to make informed decisions when implementing activities in support of any travel and tourism goals that it identifies. Therefore, GAO recommended that the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer develop a plan to identify and obtain additional data on travel and tourism needed to inform the revision and implementation of the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. In May 2024, GAO confirmed that DOT had developed a plan to identify and collect these data. In April 2024, DOT published a revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, which included a plan for DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics to initiate the Travel and Tourism Data Program to obtain and use additional data on travel and tourism to support the goals developed in the revised plan. The plan for the Travel and Tourism Data Program includes a proposal to conduct the American Travel Survey for the first time since 1995, and the Program would collect comprehensive data pertinent to long-distance travel and tourism, including but not limited to trip purpose and duration; modes of transportation used; travel origins and destinations; and traveler's sociodemographic and demographic characteristics. Collecting these data on travel and tourism will help guide DOT's implementation of its revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan and enhance the agency's ability to support the goals developed in its revised plan.