Reports now show that America is losing the battle for international tourists, and that goes double for Florida, who makes a lot of profit of tourism as a whole. Florida officials are now afraid that the state’s economy could be losing millions of dollars, which is costing thousands of jobs.

Recent figures show that international travelers – this includes Canadians – only make up about a tenth of the people that visit Florida. However, experts are quick to point out that these international travelers tend to stay longer, and thus, spend more money.

Eager to get their share of the business back, tourism leaders from all over are now lobbying for passage of the Travel Promotion Act. This is a bill in Congress that is designed to launch a U.S. advertising campaign around the world. This could help show a more welcoming face to foreigners who are thinking of traveling to the United States.

Mel Martinez from Florida says that, post 9/11, the United States now walks that fine line of security and making things so complicated and cumbersome to visit that people do not want to come. Right now the new act stands a great chance of getting passed.

The bill does pay for itself by charging each foreign visitor a $10 fee. This could generate almost $100 million a year. However, travel agents say that overseas travelers normally spend thousands to come to the United States and would hardly even notice a $10 fee. Although there is still a lot that has to happen before the bill is passed, it does stand a great chance of panning out.