'The words of the president, perhaps as much as any of his actions thus far, have made a tremendous contribution to rebuilding the strength of our industry.'

The ads are part of a broad travel industry recovery campaign and are funded by voluntary contributions from every segment of the U.S. travel and tourism industry. The U.S. travel industry hopes the ads will help Americans feel more confident about traveling. A second version of the ads was created to encourage international travelers to visit the U.S.

President Bush appears twice in the 30-second TV spots encouraging people to begin traveling again as a way of bringing their lives back to normalcy after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It features taped segments of the president speaking about the need for Americans to get on with their lives by traveling and seeing America. It also includes brief segments of travel industry workers welcoming their fellow Americans back.

“Travel is one of America’s most fundamental freedoms, but sadly, it took the attacks on Sept. 11 to remind Americans how valuable that freedom is to us,” said William S. Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America. “Thanks to President Bush, America has taken a major step forward in restoring confidence in the U.S. by encouraging Americans to reconnect with their country. The words of the president, perhaps as much as any of his actions thus far, have made a tremendous contribution to rebuilding the strength of our industry.”

According to a recent forecast from TIA’s research department, domestic travel spending in the U.S. is expected to drop by $33.7 billion in 2001, a decrease of 7 percent over 2000. The decrease is a result of traveler anxiety following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the slowing U.S. economy. Prior to Sept. 11, year-to-date performance by U.S. travel was equal to, or slightly above, the previous year.

More than $10 million will be committed to the domestic portion of the ad campaign starting Nov. 21 and running for four consecutive weeks. Spots will run on all three major networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) and morning shows and evening news shows. The ads will also run during football games aired on ABC, CBS, Fox and ESPN. More than 850 spots will air on cable news channels CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News.