SHAHEEN PROMOTES NEW HAMPSHIRE TOURISM

(Portsmouth, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) met today with local and national tourism and business leaders today at events in Portsmouth and Weirs Beach to discuss New Hampshire’s robust travel and tourism industry and her work promoting the state’s brand.  

Shaheen, who has been a longtime advocate of New Hampshire’s tourism and travel industry, led a roundtable discussion at The Common Man Restaurant in Portsmouth and a press conference at Weirs Beach.  At both events, Shaheen was joined by Mike Fullerton from Brand USA, a public-private partnership that Shaheen helped launch which is responsible for the country’s first-ever nationally coordinated tourism marketing effort.

“New Hampshire has so much to offer domestic and international travelers, and with Brand USA we finally have a private-public partnership with the resources to grow our travel sector and bolster economic growth,” Shaheen said. “The tourism and travel industry is our state’s second-largest industry, and I am eager to continue work with the U.S. Travel Association and the New Hampshire business community to grow our travel sector.”

Shaheen added, “When we have a national strategy that invites business owners, the business community at large and policymakers to work together, everyone benefits.”

Shaheen has led multiple efforts in the Senate to support New Hampshire and U.S tourism, which is one of the top 10 industries in 48 states and supports 14.6 million American jobs. Shaheen has cosponsored multiple pieces of legislation to promote travel and tourism, including the Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act, which would clear visa backlogs and make it easier for foreign visitors to travel to the United States.  Recently she hosted more than 130 members of the New Hampshire business community in Washington for her 3rd Annual New Hampshire Business Day Luncheon and welcomed dozens of businesses to the Fourth Annual Experience New Hampshire reception.