Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) in introducing bipartisan legislation to provide economic support for organizations involved in promoting and hosting tourism, travel, or other special events.
The Sustaining Tourism Enterprises During the COVID–19 Pandemic (STEP) Act would modify existing Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant programs to provide direct support to the hard-hit tourism and travel industry to promote economic recovery and help increase public confidence as these industries look to reopen safely in the future.
“As we work to safely reopen our economy, we must be doing all we can to support those who drive our hospitality industry, including within our live entertainment and outdoor recreation sectors,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This legislation will help our struggling tourism marketing and convention entities and ensure we promote safe travel and tourism for both visitors and workers.”
Nevada’s travel and tourism sectors, like others across the country, have experienced an unprecedented crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The travel industry has historically taken the longest to recover from economic downturns, and travelers understandably need reassurance that travel is safe during a pandemic.
The STEP Act would authorize $2.25 billion in funding through the EDA to provide grants for tourism and event entities impacted by COVID–19. It would also authorize a permanent change to EDA eligible expenses to include “travel promotion” spending, which would include funding for tourism marketing.
Grants are available to any entities that perform tourism promotion operations.