Schumer Promotes Bill to Foster Innovative Tourism Initiatives in Schuyler County - Bill Will be a Shot in the Arm for Region's Tourism

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer unveiled a proposal to boost New York's tourism industry, one of the largest drivers of the Southern Tier's economic growth. Schumer's bill, the Travel Regional Investment Partnership Act (TRIP Act), would work to increase U.S. tourism through the creation of a grant program that would bring together government and the private sector to improve parks, build tourism infrastructure and market tourist destinations. Importantly, the legislation will benefit communities that don't have huge budgets for tourism promotion, like communities in the Southern Tier.

Today, Schumer stood at the Watkins Glen Community Center site of the first ever Taste of the Finger Lakes festival where he made the case that encouraging further investment through public-private partnerships in places throughout the Southern Tier will help local landmarks in the region attract visitors and allow New York's tourism industry to remain an economic engine.

"The TRIP Act will help improve the region's already great tourist attractions and provide critically needed funding to keep the visitors, and their dollars, coming," Schumer said. "Creating jobs has got to be our number one priority and focusing on tourism is one of the most effective ways of doing that here in Schuyler County and throughout the Southern Tier."

The Travel Regional Investment Partnership Act or TRIP Act works to boost the U.S. tourism industry all while taking into account the fiscal challenges that confront states and the federal government. If passed, the legislation would set up a program in the Commerce Department to award grants to local tourist destinations that would allow them to build infrastructure, make improvements and market the destinations. The program would bring together the public and private sector by allowing local tourist attractions to partner up with private partners like a local Visitors Bureau, Chamber of Commerce or local government to pool their resources. The joint plan would then be presented to the Commerce Department where it would be judged for funding against other projects in a competitive process.

The program would allow the Commerce Department to provide a selected project with a matching grant of up to $1 million. Communities in New York will likely be well positioned to compete for these grants since the state already has robust tourism infrastructure and hundreds of potentially interested private investors. The legislation was introduced by Senator Mark Begich (D-AK). Schumer is an original cosponsor.

Tourism is New York's second largest industry, producing over $660 billion in economic activity every year and the Southern Tier's tourism industry is similarly robust. The industry also represents an incredibly cost effective investment for the state. Passage of the TRIP Act will only mean continued growth for the tourism industry in Schuyler County, the Southern Tier and the entire state.

The first ever Taste of Finger Lakes is a perfect example of the appeal of tourism in the Southern Tier. This year's event will bring in visitors from throughout the region who will sample some of the best that the area has to offer. Throughout the Southern Tier there are parks, museums and other attractions that could possible benefit from passage of the TRIP Act.

Schumer has been a steadfast advocate of New York's vineyards and wineries. He successfully convinced the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the October 15, 2009 proposals by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that would have had a significant and negative impact on New York's thriving wine industry. The CBP and TTB proposed changes would have repealed a program that currently provides a rebate for wineries that export NYS wine. Under the program, any federal tax or duty that an American winery pays on wine imported from another country is refunded when that same entity exports American-made wine of roughly the same value. Current duties and taxes on wine imports total approximately $1.30 per gallon. Under the existing drawback program, the American winery gets a refund of these taxes and duties if they export a similarly-valued bottle of NYS-made wine. The refund is a significant incentive for companies to export wine, and allows them to price those bottles more competitively, boosting sales and revenue for NYS wineries. This incentive program is known as "substitution drawback" because vineyards and distributors are "substituting" a US-produced bottle of wine for an imported bottle of wine.

The CBP and TTB proposed eliminating this program. Schumer said the proposals would have greatly hurt New York wineries, an important source of economic activity in many parts of upstate and on Long Island. Last year, Schumer asked Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal parent agencies of CBP and TTB, to withdraw these proposals and they have now agreed.

The value of U.S. wine exports has doubled in the past 10 years, exceeding $1 billion in 2008, in large part due to the drawback program. Also, between 2002 and 2006, the U.S. wine industry expanded exports at a rate surpassed only by Australia and Chile.

New York State is the third largest producer of wine (by volume) in the country, with over 200 million bottles produced annually, 255 wineries statewide, $508 million in sales, and 17,000 employees. According to the NY Wine & Grape Foundation, the New York wine, grape and grape juice industries contributed over $3.76 billion in economic benefits to the economy of New York State in 2008. Exports of NYS wine have grown exponentially -- over 240 percent -- in the past decade. The value of exports is expected to top $45 million in 2009. The dramatic increase in exports is due in large part to the availability of the drawback program, which allows refunds of federal taxes paid on imports when comparable merchandise is exported.

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