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Travel and Tourism: DOT Should Improve Strategic Planning and Data Collection

GAO-23-105967 Published: May 24, 2023. Publicly Released: May 24, 2023.
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Fast Facts

The Department of Transportation provides grants to state, local, and tribal governments to support travel and tourism—which is vital to the U.S. economy. In 2019, travel and tourism in the U.S. generated $2 trillion and supported 9.9 million jobs.

Travel and tourism is a relatively new responsibility for Transportation, but it hasn't created a strategic plan with clearly defined goals and strategies to achieve them. Also, the agency hasn't collected data on travel and tourism—such as travel party size and trip purpose—which would inform its decisions to help support the industry.

We recommended that Transportation address these issues.

Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, Montana

Natural underpass on the side of a mountain with vast mountains in the background.

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Highlights

What GAO Found

The Department of Transportation (DOT) provides grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments, among other entities, to support travel and tourism. According to DOT officials, six grant programs have specific travel and tourism related provisions. For example, the National Scenic Byways Program can fund eligible projects on roads with outstanding scenic, historic, or other qualities, including improvements to accommodate increased tourism. In fiscal year 2022, DOT made about $5.6 billion available for these six programs. Of this amount, DOT provided $810 million to projects selected in part for their travel and tourism benefits. DOT and stakeholders also identified 19 other DOT grant programs that did not have specific travel and tourism provisions, but funded projects with travel and tourism benefits. DOT made nearly $68 billion available for these 19 programs in fiscal year 2022. These programs may support travel and tourism by, for example, expanding transportation capacity or enhancing connectivity between different types of transportation, such as airplanes and public transit.

Highway 12 in Utah, an Example of a National Scenic Byway

Highway 12 in Utah, an Example of a National Scenic Byway

GAO identified two key challenges that limit DOT's ability to support travel and tourism: a lack of specific goals and comprehensive data. DOT's National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2020–2024 aims to articulate a strategic vision for making the U.S. travel and tourism industry more competitive globally. The plan identifies some general strategies and best practices for supporting travel and tourism, but does not contain strategic goals specifically related to this area. Without specific goals, it is not clear what DOT intends to achieve through its efforts. Moreover, while DOT has acknowledged the importance of using data to inform its efforts, DOT has not collected comprehensive data specifically on travel and tourism, such as on the purpose of trips, travel party size, and transportation modes used. Without such data, DOT may not be able to make informed decisions when implementing activities in support of any travel and tourism goals it identifies.

Why GAO Did This Study

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2019—prior to the COVID-19 pandemic—the U.S. travel and tourism industry generated $2 trillion in economic output, supporting 9.9 million American jobs. While many agencies share responsibilities for supporting travel and tourism, in recent years, Congress has increased DOT's responsibilities in this area.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes a provision for GAO to review DOT's support for travel and tourism. This report examines (1) the extent to which DOT's grant programs support travel and tourism; and (2) the challenges DOT faces in supporting travel and tourism, and how DOT might address these challenges.

GAO reviewed pertinent statutes as well as DOT strategic planning and grant documentation. In addition, GAO interviewed DOT officials, representatives of 14 industry groups, and officials from state DOTs and tourism boards in eight selected states. GAO selected these states to obtain diversity in geographic region and in the share of travel and tourism in states' economies.

Recommendations

GAO is making two recommendations to DOT: (1) develop goals related to travel and tourism and incorporate them into its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, and (2) develop a plan to identify and obtain additional data on travel and tourism needed to revise and implement the Plan. DOT concurred with the recommendations.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer to develop and incorporate long- and short-term goals related to travel and tourism into the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, and align these goals with the strategies and resources necessary to achieve them. As part of developing these goals, DOT should consult with applicable congressional committees, as appropriate. (Recommendation 1)
Closed – Implemented
Travel and tourism are vital to the U.S. economy, generating trillions in economic output and supporting millions of American jobs. In recent years, Congress has expanded DOT's responsibilities in this area, and aimed to use infrastructure investments to help the travel and tourism industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. DOT provides grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments, among other entities, to support travel and tourism. In 2021, DOT published its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024, which aims to articulate a strategic vision for DOT to make the U.S. travel and tourism industry more competitive globally. In GAO's prior work, it has identified leading practices related to key elements of agencies' strategic plans that should include: (1) agency-wide long-term goals for all major functions and operations with related short-term goals; and (2) strategies and the various resources needed to achieve the goals and objectives. In 2023, GAO reported that DOT's plan has identified some general strategies and best practices for supporting travel and tourism, but it did not establish any short- or long-term goals for supporting travel and tourism. Absent these goals in the plan, it is unclear how actions in support of these strategies and practices are to be aligned within DOT. Moreover, while the plan identifies some resources DOT could use to support travel and tourism, it does not specify how these resources will support travel and tourism in the short- or long-term. However, without short- or long-term goals for support of travel and tourism, it is unclear what DOT intends to accomplish through its efforts. Given the statutory requirement to update the plan, DOT could consult-as appropriate-with relevant congressional committees on the development of these goals as part of its regular required consultations on strategic plans and agency priority goals. Therefore, GAO recommended that the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer develop and incorporate long- and short-term goals related to travel and tourism into the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan and align these goals with the strategies and resources necessary to achieve them. As part of developing these goals, DOT should consult with applicable congressional committees, as appropriate. In May 2024, GAO confirmed that DOT had developed long- and short-term goals related to travel and tourism into the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. In April 2024, DOT published its revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, which included four long-term strategic goals, as well as performance indicators that establish short-term goals in support of the strategic goals. The plan also identifies strategies and resources that will support the achievement of the plan's goals. According to the plan, DOT used multiple sources to inform its revisions, including consultations with relevant congressional committees. By developing goals for its support of travel and tourism, DOT is better positioned to articulate its approach to supporting travel and tourism in the context of its other responsibilities and align existing strategies and resources to support its approach.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer to develop a plan to identify and obtain additional data on travel and tourism needed to inform the revision and implementation of the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. (Recommendation 2)
Closed – Implemented
DOT provides grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments, among other entities, to support travel and tourism. In 2021, DOT published its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024.The plan emphasizes the importance of comprehensive, recent data to inform decision-making about travel and tourism support. In 2023, GAO reported that DOT and its modal administrations collect and analyze transportation data on topics including safety events-such as collisions, derailments, and evacuations-and infrastructure conditions and locations. However, DOT does not collect comprehensive data specifically on trip purpose, including tourism, to guide the implementation of its National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. Further, DOT has found gaps in its collection of data on long-distance passenger travel across different transportation modes, such as demographic data and information on origins and destinations of travelers. DOT officials said that they have not collected comprehensive data specifically on travel and tourism because they have not identified what is needed to support their efforts in the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. Without additional data specifically on travel and tourism, DOT is limited in its ability to make informed decisions when implementing activities in support of any travel and tourism goals that it identifies. Therefore, GAO recommended that the Chief Travel and Tourism Officer develop a plan to identify and obtain additional data on travel and tourism needed to inform the revision and implementation of the National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan. In May 2024, GAO confirmed that DOT had developed a plan to identify and collect these data. In April 2024, DOT published a revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan, which included a plan for DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics to initiate the Travel and Tourism Data Program to obtain and use additional data on travel and tourism to support the goals developed in the revised plan. The plan for the Travel and Tourism Data Program includes a proposal to conduct the American Travel Survey for the first time since 1995, and the Program would collect comprehensive data pertinent to long-distance travel and tourism, including but not limited to trip purpose and duration; modes of transportation used; travel origins and destinations; and traveler's sociodemographic and demographic characteristics. Collecting these data on travel and tourism will help guide DOT's implementation of its revised National Travel & Tourism Infrastructure Strategic Plan and enhance the agency's ability to support the goals developed in its revised plan.

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Topics

AirportsBest practicesData collectionFederal agenciesFederal landsFreightGrant programsHighway projectsMotor vehicle standardspandemicsPublic roads or highwaysStrategic planTransportationTransportation infrastructureTransportation statisticsTravel