See America : the politics and administration of federal tourism promotion, 1937-1973 / Mordecai Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, Mordecai, 1948- author.

Contributor:

State University of New York Press.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tourism--United States--History.

Tourism.

Tourism--Government policy--United States.

United States. Department of the Interior--History.

United States.

United States. Travel bureau. [from old catalog].

Physical Description:

1 online resource (266 pages)

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, [2020]

Summary:

"As the first federal tourism agency, the US Travel Bureau played a seminal role by setting the precedent for federal involvement in tourism. Created in 1937 by Interior Secretary Harold Ickes and given formal status by Congress in 1940 the Travel Bureau was distinctive for several reasons. Business interests otherwise hostile to FDR's New Deal enthusiastically supported its work. Roosevelt, who was in the process of significantly expanding the National Park system, saw increased tourism as a means to bolster economic activity and counteract the Great Depression. The Travel Bureau quietly engaged in vigorous marketing to encourage African Americans to travel, including sponsoring the 1940 and 1941 editions of the Green Book, the travel guide for African Americans facing segregated lodging. Another unusual feature of the Travel Bureau was that Congress exempted it from its usual hostility to public relations by federal agencies. The Bureau developed an unusually extensive PR and marketing program, trying to persuade citizens to travel more. After an on-and-off existence, President Nixon transferred travel promotion to the Commerce Department where to this day there is a travel promotion office and a federal surtax to fund it"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The tourism industry and big government: Origins of the US Travel Bureau, 1930-1936

The US Tourist Bureau: Birth by administrative action, 1937

The US Travel Bureau: Renamed and expanded, 1938

When business liked (part of) the New Deal, 1939

Congress decides it sometimes likes agency PR: Statutory creation, 1940

Promoting tourism during a national emergency, 1941

Travel promotion in wartime? 1942-1943

Post-War revival: Interior's US Travel Division, 1946-1949

Last try: Interior's Office of Travel, 1968-1973.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781438478104

1438478100