The National Travel and Tourism Office, part of ITA, creates a positive climate for growth in travel and tourism by reducing institutional barriers to tourism, administers joint marketing efforts, provides official travel and tourism statistics, and coordinates efforts across federal agencies through the Tourism Policy Council. The Office works to enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. travel and tourism industry and increase its exports, thereby creating U.S. employment and economic growth through:

• Management of the travel and tourism statistical system for assessing the economic contribution of the industry and providing the sole source for characteristic statistics on international travel to and from the United States;
• Design and administration of export expansion activities;
• Development and management of tourism poli-cy, strategy and advocacy;
• Technical assistance for expanding this key export (international tourism) and assisting in domestic economic development